From A General's Perspective
by thecoldest raindrops are tears
Summary: Shang's Life from beginning as a child to Post-Army
1. Author's Note

I honestly don't think this has been done before. If it has, please correct me. Has anyone ever wondered about Shang's before life? I guess before the Army Academy? Anyone? I think Shang would have been a complete stud and all the girls would have loved me. Knowing Shang, and his stubborn manner also, he would have loved it!

This story follows Shang's life before Mulan and maybe after Mulan.

I'm very excited about this story because I get to make up a past for Shang, who was barely known beforehand, yet is a main character! I want to show readers what is relationship with his father may have been like and what his relationship with his mother may have been like.

Please feel free to comment/criticize! I'll accept it either way! I hope you guys enjoy this just as much as me!


	2. Letters

I never knew my life would turn out like this: so crazy, so mixed up, so dangerous, so different, yet exactly how I wanted it to be. As a man, I can't believe I'm saying this, but who knew one moment could change my life forever and make it so much better. More importantly, who knew one woman could change my life so much. If I was to say that to any man walking by, they certainly would have given me strange looks, despite my General status, but honestly after meeting that one special woman, I wouldn't have cared if even the Emperor gave me a strange look. But I know my mother and my father would certainly be proud, and I would be proud of myself: isn't that what matters?

But honestly, after meeting her, I have to admit, I'm more of a man. It doesn't sound manly to say that a woman makes you manlier, but I really am. People say it's because she can beat me now in fighting. I don't think so. I'm still better. But from her I've learned that I don't need to care about what others think, and all I need to seek is my own approval. Reach _my _own goals. Live up to _my _own standards. Not someone else's.

Being a man isn't only about being tough and fighting for your own country. It isn't about just about who owns the household, who does the most jobs and the hardest tasks, or just who has more power. A few years ago, when I was trying to sway girls, I would have said that and showed off my body. I finally got a look of disgust from my mother _and my father_. That stopped it right there. But I can honestly say, before her, I was skeptical about the whole idea. Even after I met her, I was still skeptical. But when I stood there, under her cherry blossom tree, and she stared at me right in the eyes, completely unafraid, I realized a couple of things. One, I was a nervous wreck. I was completely vulnerable to her. Two, if power is what makes a man, then she was the man there. Standing next to her made me powerless to her. She was the one in control. She could have completely dismissed me and never invite me to dinner. I would have been heartbroken, and she had that power, but she didn't use it. To me that's what makes a man: even though you have great power, you also have a great responsibility.

Now to say she was the man in our relationship, that's taking it to a _new_ low. I was still the man. When my mother and father gave me a look of disgust with how I talked to ladies, I took into consideration a couple of things. One, the fact that my parents married for love was not only rare, but it showed me that it was possible. And with her, I learned about love. Not the shallow attraction most old men feel. But the actual love that you feel when you're happy. The type of love that makes your heart beat uncontrollably. The type that makes your stomach feel like you've been punched in the gut. The type that is a true feeling, more than an attraction. And that's what I felt with her. I didn't think it was possible, but it is.

If my brother was reading this, he'd say I lost my man card when I mentioned the word woman, and especially in the way I talked about them other than lustfully. Well that's the thing, no one will be reading this, and hopefully not. If they did they'd finally understand me. But there's only one person that would or at least, I hope will read it. Because she would understand.


	3. Girls Have Cooties, Part 1

Girls Have Cooties, Part 1

I hate girls. I hate them. I hate them so much, they make me vomit. Girls have cooties and they're disgusting. They don't look like us. They smell funny. They act weird and they are so confusing!

As a child, I found myself saying this often. But who knew, it would apply to those girls as the years went by. Truth be told, one main reason why I didn't like girls was because I didn't understand them. Who'd know I wouldn't understand them for several years? But I really didn't understand girls at my young age, when honestly, it should have been the easiest time to understand them. One, girls played with dolls. Honestly, who did that? Where's the fun in playing with dolls? Two, why would you rather play with dolls than play in the mud and fight wars? Now there's excitement! You never knew what the guy fighting you would throw next at you, so you had to strategize. For girls, the only thing they had to "strategize" was the clothes their dolls were wearing, the man they would "marry", and how their pretend life would be like. Now that takes brains, not! Three, playing dress up is not fun. Trust me, my mother did it to me, and so did my older sister. It was not fun, being dressed up my boy outfits, so imagine when my sister made me try on a dress to see how it looked. But something tells me that she didn't just do it to see how it looked. She also did it to torment me. I always warned my sister, "When I have my own way, just watch me." My mother then threw me the dirtiest and angriest look, I'd ever seen. And at five, you know you don't always mean what you say. But when my father got home that night I can tell you, I got the longest speech ever, or at least what I remember.

My father had the most serious face, and I just remember one thing he told me. "Power only belongs to those who handle it responsibly. If you misuse it, then you will lose it." That meant a lot to me, especially since I looked up to my father. But ever since then, I questioned why certain people were in power. One of them, which I'll never understand is Chi Fu. I always had theories, but they never really made any sense. But that is for another time. At the time, I believed that whoever is in power, you don't doubt them or make them angry, until you succeed them. But that wasn't what my father meant at all. I didn't learn it until later, and I learned it, from no other than one very special girl.

But girls never were my favorites! My mother would always ask, "Why don't you go out and play?" And I'd tell her, that I didn't want to play with any girl. My mother would always give me the angriest look and just walk off, but never saying a word. I often thought that maybe she didn't say anything because that was what everyone thought during those days, and even though they still do, she did not correct me. But I know why she gave me that look: it's because she expected more from a son of hers, especially one that was her favorite. But at the time, I didn't understand why she gave me the nasty look. The reason why I didn't understand was because as a child I was taught completely differently by the main people in my life.

All the teachers in my school, the philosophers, all the books, they never mentioned women. So why should they be regarded or even thought of as people? If they didn't talk about them and they were older and wiser, why should I contradict them? Am I not supposed to learn from those who are older and wiser? Well as I'll learn later, it's because I am a bigger man. But to my teachers, women were nothing. No women were mentioned in the menial history I had to learn at age five. No women were well known philosophers, or even philosophers for that matter so they must not have been important. No women were in the Imperial court my father was in, or any court I knew, so they must have really not been important. And I believed that because to me, my father was the most important man in the world, but "second" to the Emperor of course. But I looked up to my father like a person would look up to the Emperor. He was god and everything I wanted to be.

So you can imagine when my father told me to treat girls better later on, I downright got to it! I didn't understand it, but I did it anyway, as much as I disliked it. My better treatment of girls however, was not due to my father at all or my mother. I will save that for another time. However it certainly didn't hurt to get a reprimanding from my father either to make me change my sexist ways. But I'll never forget the day that it all went down with the first girl and last girl I hated.

Every day whether it rained or shined, when I was just five, I would love to play out in the fields behind my house. It was like an adventure to me. I didn't know what was there before because my mother always told me to stay near the house. But with the tall overgrown green soft grass, and the lack of footprints, it made it feel like it was my own place to stay. It was as if, it was my own secret garden that no one knew, but yet my own safe haven: free from anything bad in the world. I loved that secret garden. Every day when my mother was busy doing chores inside the house, tending the garden outside, or gossiping endlessly with her friends by the front door, I would sneak out to my secret garden, my own dangerous land.

This place behind my house was honestly nothing different from the regular forested area. It had several tall thick trees which shaded out the area, and allowed only small patches of sunlight to break through. The grass was nice and soft, just like right before a battle. The place was mysterious, which brought more fun into the game. I knew no one was there, but still, the thought of finding something new excited me! The animals deep within the forest made noises that I imagined were exotic dangerous animals brought in by the white travelers or merchants my father told me about. He often brought me some new technology or device that I'd never seen before, that was given to him in exchange for silk and other precious items. And I was glad he brought the new goods, because what he certainly gave them was worth a lot here, like the silk robe my mother made. But I often brought these priceless treasures and exotic things, like the long telescope, as they call it, which can see very far, into my adventure land. I imagined myself as an explorer, or a strong General like my father, scouting out the enemy and knowing their strategy to win the battle! Or at times, I'd pretend and scour the enemy out, which in the end, turned out to be only a few troublesome black birds. Even though my imagination was running rampantly, and in reality, it was really unexciting, but I still had fun enough to keep me occupied most of my childhood days. What I honestly really wanted and desired was a friend, any friend, as long as it wasn't a girl. But when your only other playmates are your older sister who was off-limits since she was a girl and only wanted to play dress up, your brother is an arrogant ass who only wants to spend time talking to girls, and your only other sibling was still in your mother's womb, well you get lonely really easily. So long story short, the animals were my enemies and the forest was my friend. I never forgot that special place of mine, even throughout the years. There were times, when I came back home and I would find myself still walking down the small, now worn-out paths I used to go on as a child. They were deteriorating, but I still remembered the little silent footsteps I made. But what I will never forget for as long as I live is, what I found there that one day, that made me not want to go back for a while.

It was a bright sunshine-y day, just like any other day at my house. My mother was out getting groceries from the local market. She warned me to not go and leave the house. My mother also told my brother to keep an eye on me. I scoffed at that. My brother couldn't keep an eye on himself. He was so bad at taking care of anybody else but him. That may have been the reason why he never became General like me, and instead held a very prominent position in the court my father was in. My brother, who was just a few years older than me, was so different from what I expected I'd be like when I got to his age. I never thought I'd see myself falling head over heels for a girl! I mean I could see it in happening in maybe, never! Or at least when my parents forced me to marry like all the men I heard from as I walked down the streets as a child with my father and mother to visit my aunt and uncle. They always dreaded it, but at the same time they always loved it. I never saw why! My brother always explained that I would understand in due time. But honestly, I never really did understand. Even to this day, I don't really understand. But I certainly understood the dreading part, which eventually changed slightly over the years, as to why I was dreading marriage. But one thing is for sure; my brother certainly knew how to keep an eye on the ladies, older or younger, but not on me. And with my father out, as usual on his continuous Imperial business, I was left alone again at home with no playmates, but able to visit my special garden.

This day however was really different. Even the garden seemed really different. I don't know why I thought that, but maybe it was because of the situation. The light shined in the same places, the trees swayed to the same rhythm with the wind, and the grass was wet from the earlier rain. But it was the same, and yet to me it seemed different. I played the same games, I scared the same birds, I played with the grass, and I did everything I normally would do, _until…_

I heard giggling in the grass. I didn't know who it was. When I immediately turned around, I found no one there. I thought that maybe I was going crazy and just hearing things, that maybe the wind just carried the sounds from my neighbor's own backyard. And as I crouched down, and meticulously searched the area around me, I heard even more laughing, a lot louder than before. I immediately stood up straight. I knew that I was not just hearing things. As I took one step, I heard the giggling again. Apparently this kid was not good at the art of staying hidden. The direction of the giggling was east of where I was standing. As my father taught me, _go in the direction of the problem_. Thought others would tell me, to NOT go in the direction of the problem, if I wanted to be a hero, I had to do what my father said.

As I neared the place where I heard the giggling, I stopped for a moment. Then in one swift movement, I pushed the tall grass aside and found something that shocked me.

"You're a girl! What are you doing here?" I remembered shouting that at the poor girl. She was my neighbor and the daughter of my father's very good friend. I had no right to treat her that way, because not only was she my father's friend, but she also was completely innocent. She just happened to be there at the time and found it funny. But I didn't think that way when I was little.

She smiled, "I just saw you playing in your garden from my backyard and thought it would be fun to join you. Do you think I can play? I'm good at catching up!"

"No!" I shouted at her, "You're a girl and I never play with girls! You girls are stupid!" I regretted saying that now, but at the time, I thought I was cool. I thought that the other boys who thought the same would be proud. But what happened later made me forget everything that I thought would make them proud.

Later that night, my father yelled at me which made me ever forget about making myself proud. As he yelled at me, I recalled the moment the girl ran out of there and cried the whole way home. I imagined how upset she must have been, how angry her father looked, how sad her mother felt for her, and most of all, how apathetic I was towards her. But it wasn't even her that made me realize that I was a monster. I didn't learn it, until I met a girl who would change my life forever, one meeting at a time.

* * *

**AN:** Well I've decided to put my author's notes towards the end! I'm really excited about this whole story! But don't worry, I won't forget to update Reasons to Hate You or The Past and Happily Ever After, which I'm finally almost done with, THANK GOD! But I'm loving this story right now! This is one of the chapters that I spent a long time on. I really like it and I hope you readers enjoy it too! By the way, the first chapter was an author's note, the second one was JUST an introduction. I gave you guys a longer chapter this time! We all know Shang deserves a story and we deserve to hear from his side of the story! R&R!

**Special thanks to:**

trakrat- THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ME HERE AGAIN! :D You are one awesome devotee! I hope you enjoy this! YOU'RE THE BOMB!

winterleaf-thanks for informingme! I honestly had no idea! I'm sorry to those writers! I hope you enjoy this!

Team Erik and Fang - btw, you may want to put this on story alert so you can get emails for each time I update! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

crazylamu007 - first off, I LOVE THAT NAME. haha it makes me laugh. (i'm sorry if that offends you in some way). i wrote a short chapter because I wanted to see how the readers would respond to it. And I wanted to make up a story for Shang so in a way, it defends his actions, for example, why he left Mulan on the mountain. And you're right, Shang is a main character and deserves more than just the leading man role in the movie (though that may belong to Mulan LOL). But he also deserves a story. And I promise I will finish my other stories because that also annoys me. I'm glad you like Reasons to hate you, and I think you will be surprised after the 10 chapters :D

Leila Wong- WOOH! I love you! haha you are an awesome devotee! I'm glad you followed me here also! And yes we all love Shang! I think YOU especially would enjoy this story! I'm just saying! and wow! I can't believe you felt as if he was there! that's awesome! my writing is definitely improving and I'm glad you're enjoying my story!


	4. Girls Have Cooties, Part 2

Girls Have Cooties, Part 2

"_So do you believe in a love at first sight?" she asked me one day, with love sparkling in her eyes._

_I laughed. "No, not at all," I replied. At first her face fell, but then turned into a small smile, a smile that I felt wasn't genuine. I swore from then on that I would always try to make her smile. So I said to her, "Because that would mean that I fell in love with a man." _

I remember having that very conversation with Mulan sometime a while ago, but it was after I knew she was a woman. She held my hand and fearlessly looked me in the eyes and asked me that very question. I knew exactly what memory she was referring to though, and it certainly wasn't when I saw her at camp, and after. It happened when I was just a boy, a naïve but certainly wise little boy.

Now you're probably thinking: Shang fell in love with a girl as a young boy? Are you talking about the same Li Shang? The same boy who kicked a girl out of his garden just because she was a girl? The boy who hated girls more than anyone else? Except for Chi Fu of course. But yes, it was after I kicked out Jia from my secret garden, that I fell in love with a girl, but at the time I certainly did not know it was love.

Sure it was love: puppy love. The type of love little boys and girls harbor for each other, with holding hands, first kisses even though they were not allowed to, getting those gooey eyes when he or she came into the room, always having him or her on your mind, staring in awe whenever they wore something nice, whispering cute things in their ear, and professing your love to them: but more importantly, the feeling of having a best friend. Now that I think of that though, it sounded exactly how I acted around Mulan when I got older, but that, that was true love, not just puppy love.

I guess love comes in all sorts of definitions: true affection or feelings for another, strong emotion or passion towards another, a feeling of warm affection or devotion for another. Later on as I got older, I learned that love also has many more definitions; ones that I don't really think are love but in fact are sickening to me because it showed me how people in China really "fell in love". But I learned from a great woman, who was never a philosopher, the meaning of words said by a famous philosopher, "To love a [person] means wanting it to live", to be free.

And that's exactly what I felt when I fell in love as a child. I wanted her to be free to be who she really was, because for once, I found a girl who I could relate to, who wasn't like the other girls out there. And as stupid and unaware as I was, I didn't realize that a girl like this didn't come around "every dynasty". But yet, I let her go the first time, and the second time, and almost lost her the third time. And every time, she would find her way back to me, like some kind of angel. Who knew that I needed her more than she would ever need me.

It all started on a fall day. It was like any other fall day. The wind was blowing through the trees. Blowing in a direction I didn't want to go. Later that day, I'd finally find the strong wind, which would once again blow in a direction I didn't want to go in. I'd thought I'd found it, but I was wrong. I sat on the far edge of the carriage, looking out the window, sighing as the journey progressed, impatient to get to where we were going. I sat on the other side of my mother, who sat near my father, holding hands, smiling and jubilantly as she normally was and as she continued to be throughout her pregnancy. I always scoffed at their constant show of affection. It sickened me because I was just a child and I thought kissing girls was disgusting. Later on I thanked the ancestors my parents were so wonderfully matched together, and prayed and hoped my marriage would be the same way. My brother and sister sat in front of me laughing and playing around as they normally did, and sometimes failed to involve me, as they did see me as too young to understand.

"Mother," I sighed in irritation, which was an emotion coming off the fact that I was bored to death, "where are we going? And how much longer is it going to take?"

My older brother threw a nut at me that he got from a nearby tree on the way to our destination. I quickly swatted it off before it even reached my face. He laughed it off and thought it was funny. My father, on the other hand, had a smile of approval for my fast reflexes. My mother, however, had an expression of sympathy on her face, as if she knew I was not going to enjoy my time at this place.

"Li Shang," she sighed, "when are you going to learn to be patient?"

"Maybe when he finally finds himself a girl," my older sister teased. She laughed along with my mother.

"I will never like girls!" I remembered shouting at her, "I'll live alone for the rest of my life if it comes to that! I don't need a girl! What I want is to be remembered! To have the greatest honor! I'll be remembered as a strong, brave General like Baba!" I smiled. But what I failed to notice was the look of worry on my mother and father's faces.

I turned my face back to the window, knowing that this would not be a fun time for me. As we moved along, I noticed the scenery around me. It was changing as we moved along. I'd been sheltered in my own rich district, full of arrogance because I was rich. My school teachers often talked about the poor, though they often denounced them and belittled them instead of calling to us for action to help them. This was one thing my mother and I saw eye to eye on. We both agreed that we should help. Though talk was cheap because as soon as I got out my own little world and placed into this place, I wanted to go back, but I felt disgusted with myself. As we moved along the houses finally changed, looking similar to the ones just outside my house. They were nice, but not nicer than my own. We kept riding around, until we stopped at one house. It was a nice red-ish, brown house that had only one story. You could easily tell that it was much larger from the back, consisting of a farm, a stable, and probably much more. Anyone who lived here was probably a Southern noble, which was probably about the same as a Northern noble, with the exception that a Southern noble actually worked for his money. Not only did this house hold those treasures, but it also held one very dear to my own heart that nothing could compensate for. Shang later found himself going to this house over and over and over again throughout his life. Though he'd admit, they weren't always visits he wanted to make.

My father jumped out of the carriage and gently carried my mother out of it. As he carried her he huffed and puffed. My father was strong, but he was also a bit overweight. He still had his muscles though, just not as I did. Everyone agreed that I was better built than he. "My dear, you certainly are putting on some weight."

My mother scoffed as he carried her, "Maybe if you didn't eat so much and actually had better muscles, this wouldn't be a problem!"

We all laughed. My father then kissed my mother and mouthed to her that he loved her. I certainly hoped that I would be just like that. But my wife certainly did not like to be carried as I later learned.

My brother and sister jumped out before me, and my older brother pushed me to the side, allowing him to go first. Before he jumped though, I stuck my foot out and tripped him. He soon fell to the ground and cried like a baby. And I then jumped out and smirked the whole time through, that is until I got in trouble.

My father sighed and looked at me in disappointment. He gently dropped my mother on the front porch and walked to pick up my brother and take care of him. Even though I committed that bad deed, I felt a twinge of happiness. I finally succeeded over my brother. Even my sister giggled quietly as my older brother cried like a baby.

Soon a tall and skinny man slowly walked out of the door. He stumbled a bit as he walked with his cane. The man looked as young as my father, but with years of wisdom and experience. My father over-excitedly greeted him and they talked as if they hadn't been a day apart. The man greeted all of us, and gently patted me on the back. He then stretched out and asked for my hand. I politely smiled and took it. When I pulled it back I found a beautiful sharp white tooth with a chain tied to it. It was the coolest thing I ever saw. I immediately put it around my neck and thanked him over and over again for it. Who knew that I would get along with him for years to come.

As my father and the man walked inside the house, another lady came out. She looked a bit younger than my mother but possessed the same shape as my own mother. She was also with child. She greeted all of us, and gave me a kiss on the cheek to greet me. I rubbed it off when she wasn't looking. We urged for us to go in and we followed her into the house.

The whole evening, I tried not to laugh as my injured brother sat, pouting in front of me. It was funny, but not enough to keep me entertained the whole time. From that injury and forward, I always understood why I was chosen to be General and not my older brother. It was proof that I was stronger than he, and much more emotionally mature also. My brother was a jerk and I always hated him for it. But later on, he did change his ways when he finally found himself a girl to love.

As I sat alone on the couch, I made myself behave. I tried to be a good boy. I tried to smile when they asked if I was having fun. I tried to laugh at all their jokes. I tried to pretend to enjoy the constant pinching and ooh-ing and awe-ing at my cuteness. Overall I tried to be a good polite boy that my father and mother wanted, but it was just bringing me down. As my older sister sat and talked with the older ladies about the Matchmaker, my eyes constantly moved around, until I found something worth staring at. A boy, who was about my age, was playing in the backyard, and doing something I loved the most: practicing fighting techniques. My eyes widened as I watched the grace and strength at which the boy moved at. I wanted to learn from him. I wanted to teach him some of my moves and show off. I immediately jumped off the couch and ran into the kitchen to talk to my mother.

"Mother! Mother!" I shouted as I tugged at her dress. I kept tugging and tugging until she finally turned to me.

She sighed. "Yes Li Shang. Can you not see that I am talking right now with another lady?" My face reddened with shame. I looked down.

The other woman laughed, "Oh give him a break! He is a child! And he's been sitting around all day. What would you like Li Shang?"

I immediately looked up and smiled. "You never told me that there was a boy here!" Both women looked at each other and laughed. I didn't understand why at the time. I chose to ignore it. "Can I please play outside with him?" My eyes widened and pleaded to be allowed to. "Please?" I begged again.

My mother threw a look at the other woman and then turned to me. "Go ahead Li Shang. You have to remember…"

I never got to hear the rest of that sentence, because in that split moment, I ran for the door. The only thing I remembered hearing was the other lady saying, "_I always told her to act more like a lady!_" Giggles. I shut the door and ran for the boy still practicing his fighting moves.

I slowly crept up behind him. Watching his every move, watching him contemplate on what he was going to practice next.

"What do you want?" his voice surprised me. It was angry and harsh. It surprised me that he knew I was already there, even with his back turned. He turned to the side as if he was waiting for my answer while cleaning his stick, but it was really to get a side view of me. "Well are you going to answer or just stare at me all day Li Shang?" I was taken aback. This boy knew my name.

"How do you know my name?" I asked in shock.

He scoffed. "It's hard to not know your name when you're the General's son. Plus you're infamous for a certain event."

This boy spoke with such strong diction. I was in shock. I almost thought he was older than me. I immediately wished that I was like him. That I was bold like him. Now since I was little, I didn't exactly know what infamous meant. So I took it as a complement. I bowed as deeply as I could and said, "I am honored that you even know my name." I heard him chuckle. From the corner of my eyes, I saw him smirk. "I was wondering if you could teach me."

I heard a gasp. "You want to learn from me? But you're the General's son! You should be the best!"

I immediately stood up straight. "Just because I am the General's son does not mean that I am not capable of learning." I answered him harshly. "Besides, I am always open to learning and practicing with another boy."

I watched as he laughed and finally turned to face me. I carefully studied him. There was something slightly different about this boy. He was about the same height as me. But the smirk on his face had beauty to it. I couldn't exactly pinpoint what was so special about him. "Are you sure you want to learn from me?" he asked. I nodded.

And at that moment, he started to charge at me. I kept him back as best as I could. He was throwing quick hits at me. They were quick and undisciplined. He was quickly using all his energy. Something my father taught me not to do. I jumped back a couple of times to waste his energy. But with a quick kick, he had me falling to the ground. He immediately pinned me down by the arms and he sat on my legs. He stared me down for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he got up and stretched out an arm to help me up. We both smiled. I studied him again. He was so thin. But graceful in his moves. I thought about how he brought me down. "Are you sure you want to learn from me?" He asked again.

I nodded. "You're a great fighter. You just brought me down in an instant!"

He laughed. "You won't be saying that for long. Soon your father will send you to the finest military academy money can buy. And then, maybe you'll be teaching me, though it is quite unlikely."

I shrugged. "Why not?"

In that moment, he smiled and reached for the bun in his hair. In one quick second, all the hair that was tied up fell down to shoulder length. It was much longer than _any boy._ I watched in shock. "You're a girl?"

She sighed. "I told you. You wouldn't want to learn from a girl. You're the biggest girl hater I've ever met." The girl sighed and picked up her stick and walked away. I stood in shock. Her hair swayed in the wind. Her fierce eyes stayed strong in her mind. The way she moved was that of a goddess. I couldn't get her out of my mind.

I ran to catch up to her. "But you're different. You're not like any other girl I've met."

"And I'm supposed to take that as a complement?" She sighed and walked away from me again.

I shrugged. "Sure. Take it as whatever you want it to be. It's a complement for me."

She stopped for a moment. I heard her whisper, "My mother always said that I was too much like my father. So strong and yet stubborn. Undisciplined but quick to act." She sighed. "She said that I wasn't like other girls and that I'd better learn to act like one soon, before I meet that dreaded Matchmaker."

I placed a reassuring hand on her back that was certainly taking it a bit too far, considering we were both of different sexes. She knew it but chose not to do or say anything about it, and I didn't think it was wrong at all. To make her feel better, and hopefully make her teach me, I said to her, "I think you're fine just the way you are."

She smiled and took a quick jab to my stomach. "So you want to learn or are we just going to talk all day?"

I laughed and got into a stance my father taught me. She looked at me oddly but then started to copy it. She was a bit unbalanced, but quickly learned to master it and stand strong. I smiled, as if to say that I approved. "So do you have a name?" I asked.

She smiled. "Fa Mulan."

Over the course of the evening, we fought and practiced our moves again. But I never was able to stop her quick kick to the side of my face, even though I knew it was coming. We talked and I found that we had much more in common than I thought. I knew at once that I had found my best friend. As we walked inside, for dinner, she asked, "So I see that your mom is pregnant. Looks like you're going to have more siblings."

I laughed. "You too actually!"

She smiled. "Well my parents have been trying to have another child after me. It's a wonder that they had one. My mother wanted to try adoption, but my father wouldn't allow it. He said that I was good enough for him. But soon they found my mother pregnant again. My mother has a feeling it's going to be a boy."

"Are you excited?" I asked.

"Yes," she told me with a sigh. "It'll be nice to finally have someone to play with. But then it'll mean that I now have to focus on dresses and all that fun girly stuff." We both grimaced. "And my brother will be able to do what I want to do." She pouted. "But at least I'll be able to name him!"

"What are you going to name him?" I asked curiously.

She laughed. "Fa Ping."

I made a weird face. "Flower pot?"

"No, I would never name him that!" She teased. "But it certainly would make a funny name!"

I laughed along with her. Who knew that I'd hear that name again later.

We had dinner with their family and it was wonderfully cooked by Mulan's grandmother. Mulan had to wash up and help out in the kitchen. I quickly guessed that, that was where Mulan got her amazing cooking abilities. After dinner, Mulan and I played for a while in the family room, while both our fathers talked, and all the other girls talked also. My brother had fallen asleep. When no one was looking, Mulan and I drew on his face and played some tricks on him. Soon, we had to leave, much to my reluctance. We graciously thanked the Fas and boarded our carriage. I said goodbye to Mulan and waved to her from my carriage.

"Looks like Shang found himself a girl," my brother teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him and giggled a bit. He was still sour from the earlier incident and failed to see his reflection, since it was already too dark.

"So Shang," my mother said to me, "I thought you didn't like girls."

"I don't," I replied. "But Mulan is the exception." I smiled. "Who knew girls could be so awesome? Can we go back again soon?"

My mother and father smiled at each and then at me. "You will soon Shang," my mother reassured me, "In due time."

**

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AN:

Well I was having writer's block on my other stories, so I decided to write a chapter for this one. I think this is one of my favorite chapters that I have planned so far. So I hope you guys enjoy this. It certainly is cute to see Mulan and Shang together at such a young age. And we get to see Shang's parents in love. It really gives this story a whole new perspective. I hope you guys like this chapter and continue to read my story! R&R!

**Special Thanks to:**

**Trakrat – :( I'm sorry to hear that! I hope this chapter brings a smile to your face! Because I certainly was all smiles as I wrote this! Thanks for reviewing and reading! :)**

**Crazylamu007 – haha I was just so excited to write for this story!! I'm glad you think I kept Shang in character because he certainly is one complex character! I wanted to have this written Shang's point of view, like from the present writing about the past because it shows how he feels about mistakes he's made and much more! Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this! **

**Pinkprincess16 – why thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for reviewing! **

**Leila Wong – haha like I said, I certainly could not wait to write another chapter for this story! I am having some writer's block on my other stories though :/ And thank you! I'm glad you feel that way about this story! Thank you so much for following me onto this story! I hope you enjoy it! **


	5. 2nd Encounter

2nd Encounter

It's honestly sad to say that within the third memorable chapter of my life had to do with my second encounter with her. It sounds sappy. It sounds cheesy. But more importantly, it sounds pathetic.

It's almost as if, I'm saying: my life is nothing without her, my life means nothing without her, or even more pitifully, my life was nothing without her. I'll admit, I learned an awfully lot from her which made my life more meaningful. But I had a life before her! It's not as if I could live without her. Because honestly, if I was to ask her today, whether or not she could live without me, she would say that she was independent and ask why she hasn't proved herself to me yet. But that's the thing. I can live without her. I've done it before. But it's whether or not we would miss each other or whether or not we would be happy in life without each other. That's a different story.

So years later, I found myself riding on the way back to her house. I can't say I was excited, but I can't say I was completely indifferent to meeting her again after several years. I was just sixteen, and it was almost a decade since I saw her last. From what I remembered, she would be about fifteen. The memory of her fighting against me, with her hair waving in the breeze, was as clear as if it happened yesterday. Almost everything else just was a blur.

Now of course I remembered my other parts of my childhood, like running in the mud with the other boys, getting into fights with other boys, lectures from my father that I still want to erase but can't, teasing girls…Yes, teasing girls and I guess you could say courting them too. Even though I hated girls when I was little, I soon had a new respect for them after Fa Mulan, but I didn't see them as play buddies anymore, but more as talking companions, that is if they talked. Most of the girls were shy and the ones who usually clung to me were annoying. I honestly hadn't met any other girl like Mulan and I wanted to see her again. So I sat impatiently in the carriage once again, except this time, I was excited to see her.

"Li Shang," my mother asked as she sat next to me. I immediately turned to face her. "Are you okay? You're awfully quiet this evening."

My brother laughed. "That's because he can't wait to see Mulan again."

I glared at my brother. He was about nineteen now and would find himself a wife very soon. Unlike me, he didn't go to the military academy, but instead took up a study, which greatly disappointed my father. He was supposed to study and train to become a General like my father, since he was the first born. But even my father saw that he was not cut out to be one, so my father looked to me. I'll admit that, he put too much pressure on me, and at times I couldn't handle it. I often envied my brother because of that.

I scoffed at my brother's accusation. "What do you know?"

My sister laughed. "He knows nothing. Me, on the other hand, I know quite a lot about women and men and love."

I rolled my eyes and turned away. My sister, who was soon getting married, at age seventeen after visiting the Matchmaker, felt as if she knew what love was all about because she was getting married. She was scared about meeting the guy, but when she met him and talked for a while, she gushed about him for hours and said, and I quote, "I feel a connection with him. I love him." But I guess that's how women are. I'll never quite understand though.

I scoffed again at her accusation. "What do you know about love? You talked to your new husband for just a few hours and suddenly you know what love is?"

She got up and held her fist to me. My brother had to hold her back. "Just because you get to pick your wife doesn't mean that you have to go and crush my feelings in the dirt when I talk about love. And besides, as of right now, I think I know more than you. After all I am getting married."

"We don't marry for love!" I argued. "We never do! Because if we did, then there wouldn't be a Matchmaker around."

There was silence in the carriage. I had said the truth. But apparently no one likes to hear the truth. But with the looks and sighs I heard and got from my parents, I had messed up again.

I sighed. "Okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Tell me what you think."

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe you'll just find out for yourself." My sister scoffed at me. "You'll know it when you feel it. And maybe you'll find it. But if you have it, you better make sure you don't lose it. Otherwise, you'll get a nice long speech from me."

I laughed to make the air around us light and to make my sister laugh. "Well how will I know if I don't know what it is? Maybe you should tell me."

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "I can tell you care an awful lot about her, even though you don't know her as well. You've only seen her once, just like I have only seen my husband once. But I can assure you, that you know in your heart that she's right for you. Look tonight. When she walks in, look if your heart beats uncontrollably. When she talks to you, look to see if you can find the right words to say. Also, you might find yourself forgetting all about what I said to look for because you're too engrossed with her. You won't see anyone else around you. You'll think of her even when you leave and you won't hear a word anyone else says for maybe the next few hours after or days, depending on how in love with her you are. Also, you…"

My father snored loudly, emphasizing he was bored. "Enough talk about love! I don't want a son of mine to get all sappy and lovesick." He sighed and we all jerked forward as the carriage came to a stop. My father opened the door. "We're here now. And I want you to be on your best behavior for this dinner. They are friends of ours, remember? No disrespect. No wise cracks. Is that understood?"

"Yes father," we said in unison.

He laughed. "I said behave, not be bored." My father laughed as he jumped off the carriage. He extended his hand to help my mother out of the carriage. I jumped out the other side while my brothers and sister jumped out the other end. Together, we all walked to the porch and my father knocked on the door. My heart started beating with nervousness as I heard footsteps to the door. I silently hoped it was Mulan.

I didn't know how loud my heart was beating. But my sister, who was standing at a very close proximity giggled at me as she watched me. I kept my eyes on the door as it opened but kept looking back at her every five seconds as she giggled. "What?" I seethed through my teeth.

She grinned her own little smug smile. "You're nervous."

I rolled my eyes in impatience and whispered, "So what?"

She giggled again. "Why are you nervous?"

I turned away, seeing as I had no patience for her. "Just leave it alone," I whispered.

My sister just smiled and left me alone, but she whispered in my ear, "Just remember what I told you."

I rolled my eyes and walked into the house. It was so familiar. It was as if I had gone hear yesterday. I remembered Mulan's grandmother's smart talks, Mulan's mother's hospitality and attempts to cover up her mother's jabs at others, and of course, the Honorable Fa Zhou's tranquility and wisdom. Of course they had aged since I saw them last, but they were still the same. The parents engaged and talked and greeted each other endlessly. My parents introduced them to my new brother. I looked around Mulan's house for her new sibling who would be my brother's age. I found no one.

"Looking around for her Shang?" My sister whispered in my ear.

I glared at her. "No. I'm looking for her little sister or brother."

She giggled. "Always making up excuses…"

Just as I was about to seethe through my teeth, Fa Zhou said, "Now all of you are awfully quiet, unlike the children I used to know. Come sit in the kitchen. My daughter will be out in a minute. She is still getting ready." He gestured for us to follow him, and so we did. On the way my sister nudged me in the side and I glared at her, knowing exactly what she was implying.

We all sat down at the table and the parents started talking, except for Fa Li, who went up and from what I inferred, went to Mulan's room. As the parents talked I heard Mulan's talking in the background that went something like this:

"_Mama," Mulan whined, "I don't understand why I have to get all dressed up! And for people who already know me!"_

"_Mulan! You must put your best face out there! They haven't seen you in a while." Her mother said. "They don't remember what you look like."_

_Mulan groaned. "Why, that's even better. I'll astound them either way."_

"_Li Shang is out there," her mother said._

_There was silence. Either that or I couldn't hear what she said. But that meant something was up, and honestly, I didn't know what to think of that._

_Then Mulan laughed. "Either way, you can't make me wear makeup."_

"So Li Shang," Fa Zhou interrupted my snooping, "is that true?"

I, a man to my word, with the incapability to lie, said, "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that? I honestly was not paying attention."

From around the table I saw my brothers and sister snickering from behind their hands, and trying to look away from me, to control their laughter. I knew that they knew that I was either daydreaming or snooping in on the conversation. It was my fault for snooping and now I had to pay the price. I watched as Granny Fa and Fa Zhou grinned with at me with a bit of laughter in their smile. But my father stared at me with disapproval.

Fa Zhou restated the current place in the conversation, "Your father was just telling me about how you are enrolled in the Army Academy and will be graduating very soon."

I nodded. "Yes sir. In two years time."

He smiled. "I also heard that you are the top of your class. Very astounding son. Good work. Your father must be proud to call you his son."

I smiled modestly. "Thank you sir."

At that moment Fa Li comes rushing and sits at the table. She sighed. Her husband whispered asking where Mulan was. She sighed again in frustration and whispered that she will be coming soon.

I wanted to keep my eyes glued to the doorway where she would pass, but that would be too obvious and I would never hear the end of that story if I did. But what made it so tempting was the fact that all I had to do was look up and I would be staring straight at the doorway.

Fa Li started serving some tea, until she got to my brother, who sat next to me. She stopped because she heard footsteps. All of a sudden Mulan emerges from the door and I do everything I can to keep my mouth shut. But I couldn't. She was just so beautiful. So different from when I saw her last. Her eyes moved around as she walked and when hers met mine, she smirked. And that's when I realized that my mouth had been open the whole time.

She sat down and it was across from me. But of course, like the bumbling idiot that I am, I had to mess it up. "You're a lot different from when I saw you last." I said, trying to keep conversation with her. Everyone else was talking to someone else so I decided to talk to her. But it just had to be, that when I opened my mouth the whole table had to go silent.

"I'm different?" she asked with her eyebrows arched. "In what way?"

"Well," I said trying to not mess this up, "You're wearing a dress and not fighting me, so I can prove myself to you. Also, you're actually like a girl." I knew I shouldn't have said any of this. Nor should I have said that last line. Her parents got a bit uncomfortable and my mother looked as if she was going to eat me alive with all the anger she held in her eyes.

The whole rest of the night, Mulan completely ignored me. And I didn't even try to talk to her, for fear of making it worse. Only my sister, showed some sympathy towards me, mostly it was because I messed up her love theory. So in order to distance myself a bit, I walked out into the garden. I needed some space.

As I walked outside I heard some yelling inside. It was between Mulan and her mother. Mulan didn't want to go outside, but her mother wanted her to only because I was alone and needed some company or entertainment.

Mulan scoffed and walked outside. She slammed the front door shut, not even looking up to see where I was. She looked at the steps and then raised her dress to look at her feet. I had a feeling that she was going to fall. She stumbled for a bit, but then finally was able to balance herself up. I heard her quietly curse her shoes. I ran to her side. She wobbled a bit again, and I extended my hand to help her out. For a moment she smiled, but then when she realized it was me, she sighed and got up and walked away by herself. I ran after her.

"Are you okay?" I asked, hoping that it would spark a conversation.

She scoffed. "Why wouldn't I be?" She answered harshly, then turned the other way and walked away. "I'm not a girl after all. I can take care of myself."

"Look," I told her, running after her again. "You're stumbling around. You don't seem okay at all."

She sighed in frustration and threw her hands up in the air. She then turned and faced me to look me dead straight in the eyes. "Let's get this straight between you and me. Just because I am a girl doesn't mean I'm tough, and incapable of watching over myself."

I smirked. "Well just because I was a sexist kid, doesn't mean I haven't changed my ways."

She looked at me for a moment. Her eyes bore into mine without looking at the rest of me. Mulan scanned my eyes to see any emotion, any sign of weakness, anything she can use to bring me down. She smirked. "You haven't changed a bit." Mulan then started walking away.

I chased after her. "But I have changed Mulan!"

She laughed. "Right. A likely story. I'm sure you have changed Shang! Let's hope and pray it's for the better!" Mulan laughed and continued to walk away from me.

"But I have changed! I can prove it!" I ran in front of her.

Mulan stopped and looked at me impatiently. I was blocking her way. And anytime she tried to walk past me, I would block her way. I could easily tell that she cursed her shoes, which interfered with her ability to run. Seeing as that she could go nowhere else, she sighed and crossed her arms. "Okay then," she said edgily, "prove it." Mulan then looked at me and tapped her foot to show that she waits for nothing.

I sighed. My moment of confession. My weak point. All came down at this very moment, _just to prove_ that I had changed. "I've fallen in love," I told her tenderly, remembering exactly what my sister had said.

For a moment she stared at me blankly, not knowing what to say. Her eyes widened when she heard what I had said. But leave it to Mulan to keep a situation light. "With a girl?" she asked.

I threw her a look. "No," I replied sarcastically, "with a boy."

She laughed as if she had never laughed before. "You never know Shang. You may find yourself falling in love with the most peculiar person. You can never know who you're going to fall in love with." Mulan smirked at me as if she knew she was right. Later on I would find out, that she was _half right_.

I smirked back. "Very funny. But no I am in love with a lady. A beautiful one at that." I watched Mulan as she pondered upon my statement. I wondered exactly what she was thinking, what she was feeling, everything. But from my observation I could honestly tell that she wanted to ask several questions, but didn't know where to start.

She took a deep breath in. "Do you even know what love is Li Shang?"

I smiled. It was a start. But I knew that answering all her questions would finally prove to her exactly how much of a gentleman I had become and more importantly, let her realize how I felt. I remembered what my sister said and decided to use some of it. "What a complex question. But I'll tell you the truth. I don't think I know what love is. And I don't think you know what love is," she scoffed, but I just shrugged. "One's definition of love differs, don't you agree? For some, it may be based on physical appearances, and I partially agree. Looks are important, but they aren't the most important aspect. And at the same time, I have to agree that the person's personality is also important. It's mostly how well you work together and also how you feel about them. You can't define it as affection, or passion, or like puppy love. Love isn't defined by the kisses, nor the looks, nor the hugs, or romance or tender moments. Love is indescribable. You can't…you can't really put describe it, but you'll know when you feel it." I sighed. "So there's my answer."

Mulan was taken aback by this. For a while she didn't answer, but when she did, she finally smiled and said, "I guess you could say that you've changed a bit over the years. And your definition of love seems reasonable." She laughed. "So who is the lucky girl?"

I didn't want to say yet, because I was honestly afraid of her reaction. Call me a coward, but honestly, every single man I've met can say that he is afraid to tell the woman he loves how he feels because, well, we aren't made to be emotional like that, and doing so makes us look weak. Though Mulan later told me that to women, it sometimes makes you look braver than ever. So I answered, "I haven't trusted you enough to tell you that yet." She laughed. "Besides," I said, "You haven't given me one of your little confessions. You tell me a secret about you and we'll call it even."

She scoffed. "Shang, I was never entitled to giving you a secret. You told me a secret to prove yourself. I don't have to prove myself to you."

"But you do have to prove yourself," I argued. "Don't you want to know who the lucky girl is?"

She crossed her arms and looked away defiantly. "No, I could care less."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself," and started walking back inside.

"No!" She ran and followed me and stopped me right before I got inside. "Okay fine! You win! Gossip is what wins over me! Even though I don't gossip, I love to know gossip, and well you can't really blame me, considering I am a girl."

For a moment, we both stared at each other, not knowing at all what to say. I looked at her and she looked at me. We both then laughed at how crazy she sounded. "Well go on," I gestured for her to continue.

"So do I just tell you anything?" she asked.

"Well yes, but it has to be something you've never told anyone before. Something that you would be afraid to confess."

She sighed. "Why do you have to be so difficult?"

I shrugged.

Mulan sighed again. "Okay. Honestly, I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid of embarrassment, because I've been embarrassed one too many times. I'm not afraid of the Matchmaker, where I'll have to go in just a few months if no one proposes to me." My heart skipped a beat when she said that, but I don't think she noticed that. "I'm not afraid of falling down a waterfall or going in battle with the army. I'm not afraid to die."

I was taken aback this time. I honestly had never met a girl who was blunt and frank, nevertheless fearless in what she does and fearless when facing new things or obstacles.

"Wow," I said, "That's amazing."

She scoffed. "Oh you haven't even heard the good part yet."

"There's an even better part?" I asked surprised.

She laughed. "Yes, and this might make you think differently of me now." Mulan sighed. "But I'm afraid of love."

I tried not to give away an indication of how I felt about what she said, but of course my face gave me away. She laughed nervously when she saw it and sighed. "I told you," she said, "You would think of me differently."

"The only reason why I made that face," I reassured her, "is because I'm afraid I don't understand. What can be so bad about falling in love? I mean it feels great. It's wonderful. You feel so happy, like you're on top of the world and no one can bring you down. It's amazing…"

She scoffed. "Yeah, until your heart gets broken. Then how do you feel? Yeah you feel like crying. You feel like dying at times. When you're in love you do the stupidest things. Things you know you would never do. You act like you're somebody else. And the worst part is, when the love finally fades away, you're left feeling bitter and lonely."

"Well that's quite cynical," I replied bitterly.

"Yeah, well it's the truth," she argued angrily. "And when one of your friends cries for days wondering where she went wrong, you can't help but hate how helpless and weak she feels, and you'll do anything to stop that. But the problem is, we can't make ourselves impervious to love because then we'll miss out on everything else." She sighed. "And that's why I'm afraid of love."

I then found myself grabbing her hands. I tilted her head up to make her look me in the eyes. "I swear," I whispered only for her to hear, "that I would never break your heart, or make you ever feel that way ever. And if any guy does that to you, you can be sure that I will be right there to tear him down." She smiled. I smiled back. "I promise."

"Thank you Shang," Mulan hugged him.

I gently patted her back and answered back, "You're welcome."

Now I can't really explain what happened next, or exactly how I was feeling because I didn't know how to feel or even describe in sentences or words exactly what it was. But just standing there, looking her in the eyes and then her giving me a hug without regard to tradition or our cultural ideas, I felt warm inside. It sounds cliché, but hey, love can be that way.

The whole night we talked outside, without even going inside or paying any regard to what was going on inside. It was as if, I was just with her in my own little perfect world. And nothing could have changed it at all.

"Li Shang!" My mother called from the back door, gesturing for me to come inside. "It's quite cold outside!"

I shrugged. "Feels alright to me," I responded.

Mulan smiled. "Actually, I agree with your mother. I'm kind of cold myself."

I smiled back and took off one of my layers and placed it around Mulan. She smiled nervously as I did so and I even caught her blushing as I smoothed it around her.

"There," I said softly, "Are you better now?"

"Yes," She grinned. "I'm much warmer."

I smiled. "Well of course, if you are still cold, I could put my arms around you and keep you warm."

Even though it was dark outside, I could easily see the blush rising on her face. She smirked, to keep herself from grinning widely. Mulan even turned away for a moment. I chuckled to myself as I watched her and I thought, "_She loves me too_."

She finally turned and sighed. "I think I'll be okay." I didn't know at the time that she actually wanted me to put my arms around her, and I wanted to also. But of course, we had to consider our culture and traditions, and if we were caught like that, it would just be taboo. So I just smiled at her, a fake smile, and she smiled back at me: a contained smile.

My mother was still at the doorway, watching as this whole scene unfolded. From what I remember, she was smiling, grinning even at what was unfolding in front of her. And I saw this in the corner of my eye and I tried not to smirk or bring to attention my mother, for fear of ruining the moment between Mulan and me. But I spoke too soon, and I had a feeling my mother didn't want to call me either. "Li Shang," she yelled again, "Come inside now! You will get sick and catch a cold and I can't have that happening! I will not tend to you when you are sick."

Mulan laughed. "Shang, I think you should listen to your mother. After all, she does know best."

I laughed sarcastically. "Funny." I stretched out a hand when I stood up to help Mulan get up. She smirked at me and grabbed my hand. I felt her hand grasp mine even tighter and soon I found myself trying to keep myself balanced as she tried to pull me down.

She opened her mouth in awe and then stood up. "You have gotten a lot stronger Shang." Mulan laughed as we walked together. "See, I'm not sure if you remember this, but I told you! Your father probably paid for you to have the finest military training. Am I right? You're probably the best soldier. Am I right?"

I laughed. Mulan always loved to make me seem better than I really am. "That's not true. I am training but I'm not sure if I'm the best in my class. Besides, I still have much to learn."

Mulan hit me as we walked inside. "You're too modest. You know you're the best!"

And as the years went by, I still remembered that statement and wondered exactly if Mulan was really telling the truth or just being nice. Because as the years went by, she always told me how conceited and arrogant I really was. And I did tell her that night, "Now you're just being nice!" I sighed as we walked in, because I had a feeling we were leaving, and I honestly didn't want to go yet.

When I reached inside the house, I saw my brother and my sister and my mother and father all waiting at the door, while they were all talking to the Fa family. From the corner of my eye I watched as my brother and sister, even though they were old enough to be adults and were supposed to act maturely, snickered as I talked to Mulan.

I turned to Mulan. "Thank you for your generous hospitality." I turned and put one hand behind my back while the other was placed over my heart. I then bowed to her, though with the smile I wore upon my face, it seemed more like a mock bow. "I hope I see you again." I said and gave her hand a quick squeeze.

She blushed and looked away for a while. Mulan then faced me again and laughed as she said, "the pleasure was all mine Shang." She smiled. "You haven't changed a bit since I saw you. You're the same gentleman I knew." She sighed. "That girl you're in love with is one lucky girl." Mulan then grabbed my hand again and gave it a tight squeeze. "I hope you come visit me soon." We both felt like giving each other hugs before we bid each other goodbye, but with our parents watching, we felt too embarrassed to do so.

So I walked off and waved goodbye, but I wish I said more. And as I rode in the carriage with my family, and stared out the window in silence, I contemplated on that whole visit. If my parents and my siblings had mocked the way I was around Mulan, then I wouldn't have heard it. I was too engrossed with my visit that night and with her. She hadn't known that I was in love with her. I certainly wanted to get to know her even better, but I honestly felt like I knew her so well already. But I knew my chances to see her would be at the next Imperial Balls that the Emperor often held. At these the women who were training under the Matchmaker would come and see the men. I knew Mulan would be there and I couldn't wait for then. After those events, I was determined to ask my father if he would give me his blessing and allow me to marry Fa Mulan, and then accompany me to ask her father for her hand.

But as I sat thinking about these things, I didn't think about the other things: like how she felt about me and whether she cared also, or how happy she was around me and how much she had grown, and more importantly, where her new brother or sister was. That is, until my little brother said something.

"Shang?" my little brother asked, completely interrupting my reverie.

"Yes," I asked, quickly turning to face him. "What's wrong?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. I was just wondering if sister was right."

I laughed. "I'm not commenting on that."

He pouted and sank back in his chair. "Well, that's fine." He then looked away and muttered, "I was bored anyway. I had more fun watching you outside. And you told me that I would have a playmate there! You lied!"

My eyes widened in horror, but also shock. "_Where was Mulan's sibling_?"

**

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Author's Note:

BUM BUMBUM! Shocker! Haha well, we all know what happens, since we've all seen the movie! Anyways, I'm sorry this took so long for me to update! I've been trying to make sure I write a minimum of 4,000 words for each chapter I write, so it takes longer. But it's well worth the wait right? Well I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! R&R!

p.s. I HAVE amazing news. For this chapter and the next chapter I have a little One-Shot that goes along with Shang's point of view from these stories, only thing is…It's from Mulan's point of view! I couldn't stop writing from her point of view! So keep me on author alert…I'm not sure what the collection of one shots will be called, but I know the chapter will be called At Fifteen. I've already written her point of view, all I'm waiting for is to write the rest of Shang's point of view. Thanks!

**Special Thanks to:**

**KiraDemon **– I apologize for the long wait! I am so sorry! But I am very happy that I made you laugh! That makes me smile :) Thanks for your review!

**Leila Wong – **I hope you enjoy this chapter! I love Mulan and Shang at a young age too! It's kinda cute. Anyways, thanks for your review!

**Trakrat - **:D I am so glad you were smiling as you read this! Thanks for your review!

**Crazylamu007 – **I am so sorry it took me so long to update! Anyways for your questions, 1) Shang does have muscles but I was actually talking about when he gets older. He is actually a better General than his father.

2) He is six. This is kinda like his memoir. He's speaking about his past.

3) I wondered why Shang didn't find out she was a girl sooner! Because in the film, Chi Fu says, I didn't know he had a son. So I thought…hmmm, what if Mulan's mother was pregnant? You'll have to find out how this all works later. Read more later in the story :)

4) I honestly think that boys don't really tell whether a girl is not a girl until they have the long hair. Cuz you know, girls don't wear makeup especially at her age. Plus her hair was tied up and it was dark, so he couldn't tell.

5) Mulan is pretty good, she's just not as good as Shang. In the ballad, she actually is taught a bit by her father, but she isn't fully trained like Shang. But she is a quick learner, as shown in the previous chapter.

Anyways YAY! I am glad you enjoyed the chapter! I had fun writing this! And I did update Reasons to Hate you (you might want to put that on story subscription like this story)

I love long reviews, so this one brought a smile to my face! Thanks!


	6. Major Mistake 1

**Author's Note: I was supposed to release this chapter immediately after the last chapter but didn't. Anyways, I'm not sure if I should continue this story. As sad as this sounds, I'm not getting enough feedback and I also don't have a lot of time on my hands. This already takes up two hours or more of my day to write and not a lot of people seem to be enjoying this, so why really waste my time. So if you think I should continue tell me. Anyways, R&R!**

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Imperial Grand Balls were always an event to go to if you wanted to stare at women. And by women, I mean several hundreds. Unmarried women from all over China would come in and flaunt themselves before men looking for a wife, or wives. Though they really said it was to practice for married life, I always thought that it was more for show. And when my comrades said they wanted to go, they forced me into going. Even my father told me to go and have a good time, and take my mind off the Army for a while.

And as I got there I remembered what Mulan had told me just a year ago about how she was training with the Matchmaker. So there was high possibility that I would see her.

At first, we all sat down at the table as women came in. We were already late, but I guess the saying goes, "always good to be fashionably late." But truthfully, I didn't pay attention to half the girls that came in late. Mostly because I kept looking around for some familiar face in these painted dolls.

My friend Mao knocked my shoulder, taking me out of my sleep. "Hey Shang," he said getting up. I looked up at him with dazed eyes. He laughed. "C'mon man. Get up. We'll find you a lady for you to stare at or dance with, so you won't fall asleep."

I chuckled along with the other guys. I passed by several ladies who put their fan to their face as I passed by. By the way their eyebrows arched when I passed by, I could tell they liked me. For me, that gave me sort of an egotistical feeling, but I certainly wasn't interested in any of them. We kept walking and passed by some ladies who I just couldn't wait to pass by. As mean as that sounded, I just knew that I wasn't the right one for them.

Mao then stopped, and turned to face me. I also stopped and faced him. All the guys stopped also. The women around us immediately turned and faced us. I looked at them nervously and then at Mao, with a disgusted look on my face. I prayed that he wouldn't say something like this: "_Free for all! My good friend Li Shang is looking for a lady! First come, first serve!_" That certainly would have caused the ladies to chase after me, which sounds a bit conceited for me, but we all know that that would have happened. I sighed and looked at Mao, wondering what he was going to say.

He laughed and told me, "Li Shang, since it's your woman, just tell me when to stop and you can have her all night."

I smirked. "Okay, well we're not going to find her just standing around."

We all laughed and continued walking. I eyed the ladies. They giggled from behind their fans and I smiled. They seemed familiar. But I kept walking looking for more. All of these women were beautiful, but they seemed a bit shallow underneath. I didn't really know that for sure, but I just had a feeling. I saw more women, who did the same thing everyone else did, smile or giggle from behind their fan. Instead of smirking my little conceited smile, I sighed. My impatience grew greater and greater as we passed by more women and I found yet nothing. I didn't really like any of these women. And it wasn't that they were beautiful. They were just all the same. All reacted the same. They all giggled. They all smiled. They all then talked about me to their friends. It was like a never ending line of cloned women.

Mao watched me sigh and tread along as I walked. He immediately turned around and stopped to ask me, "What's wrong Shang? Not satisfied? There are several beautiful women in front of you and you can't find a single one?"

I scoffed. "It's more than that Mao. These women are all the same. I want to give up."

He shrugged. "Okay fine. Let's just keep walking and if you don't find a single woman, then you can go back and sit down at your table."

So I agreed to keep walking with him. And much to my dismay, these women were all the same again. But what kept me walking was that the end of the line was in sight. Yet, I kept looking at these women to see if I could see one that would stand out of the crowd. One single woman. So I quickly scanned the crowd each time. Most were either talking to their friends, and would immediately turn around when I passed by. And of course I saw the same reaction. I sighed again.

Mao laughed as he saw my reaction. "Don't give up hope Li Shang! She's out there."

I rolled my eyes. "Mao! Even if I did find her, I'm too tired to even dance with her. I just want to sit down or go home."

He laughed. "Fine! Do whatever you like." Mao pointed to a group of women standing the center. "Look there!"

I sighed and forced myself to look there. There was a group of several women standing and folding their fans, looking around, point at men and laughing. Yes, actually laughing. Two girls were approached by men, but they immediately ignored them. I started laughing as I watched this. Some of them smiled from behind their fans as I watched them. But those two girls stayed turned around. One slightly tall girl turned around and looked at me with a mouth wide open. She didn't even use her fan to hide her shock. But I noticed that she kept nudging her friend to face me. At first her friend shrugged it off, but when she whispered to her something that I didn't know, she slowly turned around with attitude and searched around until her eyes met with mine.

There was something about this girl that was so familiar. The twinkle in her eyes, her size, her posture, and the way her eyes stared into mine so fearlessly. But I didn't think I had seen her before. The stupid paint on her face kept me from knowing who she was. I smiled at her, but kept wondering who she was and why she was so familiar, as if I had seen her before. So I immediately ask Mao, who she was. He didn't know, but a comrade of mine said she was Fa Mulan. I immediately turned around to look at her, but she was already facing her friend. I smiled and made sure that I would go back to talk to her.

As I kept walking, I was in a daze. I wondered, why hadn't I noticed her before? She looked so different even after just a year. Who was that girl standing next to her? Undoubtedly, she was her best friend. And from the corner of my eyes, I saw her being approached by two men. I felt a surge of envy rushing through me. I immediately started walking towards her, but my friend Mao stopped me.

"Where are you going?" He asked as he grabbed my arm.

"I was just…" I started. _I was just about to talk to the woman I found_, I was about to say, but Mao interrupted me.

He laughed. "Don't go back to your table. I've set up a dance for you and a lady I think you would like."

I groaned. "Mao, why are you doing this? I already…"

He laughed again and dragged me to the center where a group of ladies were standing. I wanted to tell him I already found someone to talk to. I kept trying to get out of his grasp and walk back, but more of my comrades came along to help him. They all pushed me to the center of the room, where a crowd of people were gathering. I turned and growled at my comrades and they just laughed and point to face forward. I sighed and found myself standing in front of a beautiful young lady. She was certainly the most beautiful woman I had seen that night and her eyes were certainly the most beautiful I had ever seen. I smirked and stared at her in a daze. She did not hold a fan, considering she had to dance, but she closed her eyes and looked down. I smiled at her and suddenly the tall girl Mulan was with passes by me with a dirty glare. I look at her questioningly as she walks by and wonder what was wrong. I see the girl walk and stand by Mulan, who was facing another man and looking away from me. The tall girl whispers in Mulan's ears and for a quick moment Mulan looks at me. Our eyes meet, but this time, she looks away and walks over to the man she was assigned to dance with.

The music started and I faced forward. The girl walks to me and I grab her hand. We started to dance. I couldn't help but admire this girl. She was certainly beautiful. She had a beautiful aroma that smelled of cherry blossoms, like the tree in Mulan's garden. Her eyes sparkled and she looked away shyly when our eyes met, like Mulan did at our second encounter. Her hand gracefully fit into mine and her hands were soft and delicate, like Mulan's. My mind sent me a quick message: STOP THINKING ABOUT MULAN. And it wasn't right. I was dancing with another girl and I found myself thinking about her. So when I started to finally focus on the girl in front of me, I had to let her go, and I found myself dancing with another girl.

From another person's viewpoint, it almost looked as if I was reluctant to let her go. And you honestly couldn't blame me, because I soon found myself holding onto a girl who seemed as if she was hyperventilating. My eyes darted away from hers and I immediately let her go to another man. She was scaring me. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Mulan smiling and dancing with the same man. I suddenly had the urge to dance with her and talk to her. So as I danced around with other women, I kept trying to make my way to her.

With the music slowing down, I knew my time was running out. Mulan was still dancing with the same man. Just as I was about to butt in and take her from him, my first partner comes in and dances with me. And soon after, the music ends. I smile and bow to her and she does the same. I sighed internally watching Mulan be escorted back to her table with the other guy.

I grab my partner's hand and escort her to the table, but before we can do that, my comrades grab me and push my partner back into the center. The music plays and I am forced to dance with my partner once again. She smiles shyly and I sigh but smile back at her.

To keep this dance from being awkward I quietly ask, "So what is your name?"

She smiled, "Li Shang, my name is Wu Mei. It is a pleasure to be dancing with you."

I smile and flirt back, "No Mei, it is all my pleasure."

As we danced, we talked every now and then about our futures and what we planned to do. Also, we talked about where we were from and discovered that we lived almost in the same neighborhood. I found myself laughing and smiling as I talked to her, and she did the same. There was so much about this girl that interested me and so much that I liked. And as I became more engrossed in this girl, I saw standing right there watching me dance with an expressionless face on, was the girl I had been wanting to dance with all night, Fa Mulan. Our eyes met and for a while, I didn't know what to think or what to say. She stared at me and I felt like she was giving off anger and disappointment through her look. When the music stopped, I was still looking at her, but she was no longer looking at me. Mulan then left and disappeared into the crowd. I smiled at my partner and told her I would see her again soon. I then chased after Mulan.

I ran through the hallways looking for her. I looked everywhere for her. I then had a sudden feeling to run outside. And as I ran outside, I saw her boarding a carriage. I wanted to yell at her for her to turn around and run to her and kiss her and tell her how I felt, like they do in romantic stories. But I didn't. I stayed and watched as she stepped in. However, before she completely stepped in, she turned around. From what I could tell, she had dropped a shoe. Mulan immediately bowed down to pick it up and then stood up and found herself looking at me. She looked at me with a bit of anger in her glare. As I stood there, I looked back at her, wondering what to do. It was almost as if she wanted me to go over there and talk to her. But I didn't. I stayed and watched her. Mulan turned around indifferently and boarded the carriage. From the windows, I saw her look at me, but then turn away.

I silently cursed myself for letting her go. But I knew I would see her again at the next ball, and then I would make it up to her. I promised I would. But for now, I had to go back to Mei, whom I promised I would go back to. I sighed and knew that the rest of this night would probably be miserable.

As I entered the ballroom again, many of my comrades were leaving. Everyone was leaving and people were coming in to clean up the ballroom. Mao smiled and gave me a pat on the back asking if I enjoyed my night. I lied and said I did. I had made a big fool out of myself and I knew it.

I kind of stood in a daze as I stood there watching everyone leave. I didn't want to go home yet but I didn't want to stay around any longer. Just as I was about to turn and leave, I felt a shoulder on my back. I immediately turned around and found myself staring at Mei.

"Hello," I said somberly. "Is there anything wrong Mei?"

At first she looked at me curiously, but then smirked. "Oh yes Li Shang. There is something very wrong." Her smirk quickly turned into a grin, for reasons I didn't know why. "My room in the palace is not at all to my expectations. My bed is not comfortable at all. Can you go and test it out for me to show me that I'm not going crazy?"

I shrugged. I mean what was there for me to lose. I was just testing her bed. There was nothing wrong with that right? So I idiotically agreed to it, "I wouldn't mind helping. Just show me your room."

Mei smirked and led me up to her room. I followed closely behind. Every now and then Mei would consciously turn around and see if anyone was following. But no one followed. When we reached her door, she looked around anxiously to see if anyone was following and then opened the door. She gestured for me to walk in and then followed me. From behind I could hear her locking the door, but I thought nothing of it.

I touched the bed with my palm. It seemed okay. "There's nothing wrong Mei."

Mei started lighting candles and lanterns to give the room some light. She sighed in impatience when she heard what I said. "Oh Li Shang, the best way to find out is by lying down on it."

So I did. I lay down in the center and sighed. "It feels fine Mei. I…" Just before I was about to get up and finish my sentence, I found Mei lying on top of me. She smothered my mouth with her words and kissed me passionately. The most beautiful girl was kissing me in a way I had never been kissed before. I didn't want to get up and leave her kiss, so I stayed. The kiss got deeper and deeper. She took out the tie from my hair and ran her hands through my hair. I did the same, and then caressed her back. I didn't think anything was wrong. I was just kissing her, nothing else. But everything changed when she started kissing my neck. My breaths became shorter and I soon found her opening my tunic and making open-mouthed kisses to my chest. I didn't know what to do. I was feeling pleasure, passion, and shock all in one. Soon I found her opening her dress for me and she brought her chest closer. I found myself kissing her neck and moving lower down her chest, with her moaning as I did so. It felt so good, I didn't want to stop, but I knew the mistakes I was making.

Mei then grabbed my butt and I groaned. I soon found her pulling down my pants. And that's where I knew it had to stop. I immediately stood up from the bed. "No, Mei," I said breathlessly. "I'm not going to do this."

She turned and faced me. "Why not Shang?"

I shook my head. "This isn't right! We're not married." I ran to the door and made my way out, where I soon found myself staring face to face with Mulan. My mouth opened in shock and so did hers.

"Shang, come back!" Mei pleaded. But I shut the door, silencing her pleas.

Mulan looked at the door with her mouth even more agape and then at me. But this time her eyebrows furrowed with anger. "What were you doing?" She looked me up and down with disgust painted all over her face. Mulan gritted her teeth and shook her head in repugnance.

I was a mess. My shirt was coming off and fully open. My pants were about to fall up. I looked down and immediately pulled them up. But when I looked up, she was already running out the door. I immediately started running after her. "Mulan!" I called out after her. I wasn't going to lose her again.

Mulan turned around and started running even faster. "Leave me alone Shang!" She shouted.

Thanks to the fact that she was in dress shoes and in a long dress, I caught up with her quickly. I pulled her arm back and held her in my grasp. She tried to pull from my grasp, but it was to no avail. "You better let me go! Do you know how bad this is going to look on me? And not to mention you? You're barely dressed and chasing after me!"

I asked, "Why did you come back?" hoping and praying she was going to say she was coming back for me.

She scoffed and held up a small bag. "I left my bag. This bag contains some money for my parents from the Emperor." Mulan opened it and showed it to him. She rolled her eyes at me and muttered sarcastically, "Looks like someone was getting more than me though."

I disputed, "Now that isn't fair! It isn't what it looks like!"

She laughed. "It isn't Shang?" Mulan shook her head with repulse. "Because it looks like you were taking advantage of a girl and using her for your own pleasure." She sighed. "You know, I thought you had changed. I thought you were a good man. I didn't think you were like this. You told me you had changed and I believed you. But I don't know if I can anymore." Mulan then angrily pulled herself from my grasp and boarded her carriage again. Before she shut the door, she said to me, "Goodbye Li Shang." And just like that, she was gone.

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Luckily, no one ever heard about what happened that night. Only Mulan though. And I knew she would never tell anyone, because she was honorable. Mei didn't dare tell anyone because one, she had no proof, and also, it would bring her family dishonor. But I still did not feel right. There was a guilt swelling within me and I couldn't stop it. Weeks had passed and I was quiet and deeply troubled. My father asked what was wrong, and I had to lie and say it was nothing. I couldn't tell him. He would think of me as less. I couldn't tell my brother. He would blab it everyone. My younger brother wouldn't understand. And my mother would die of heartbreak. So I found myself going to one person I knew would understand.

I sighed and knocked on her door early one morning. She sighed and opened the door. "What do you want Shang?"

"Can I talk to you sister?" I asked pleadingly.

Since it was early in the morning, my sister gestured for me to come in. She yawned as she closed the door. My sister immediately walked to her bed and plopped down.

I sighed. "I almost lost everything to a girl that night at the ball."

Immediately, she sat up and stared at me with curiosity. Her eyes widened so much, I thought they were going to bulge out of their sockets. "What?" she asked, probably hoping that she didn't hear what I said correctly, but she heard it loud and clear.

"Her name was Mei," I sighed. "And she asked me to check out her bed. And I didn't know any better," I said, almost like a bemused child, "And I went inside her room."

My sister groaned. "How old are you? Seventeen? Shouldn't you know better? Don't you know a temptress' tricks when you hear one?"

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. My sister sighed sympathetically, and sat closer in front of me. "Have you talked to her lately? Do you know if she's pregnant, you know if she is, you're going to…"

I stopped her. "We didn't go that far. I stopped her before we did. I didn't get up earlier because it felt so good, like something I had never felt before. I had never been kissed like that. And she was so beautiful…"

My sister interrupted me. "That doesn't make it right Li Shang. You are not married to this girl. Do you still harbor feelings for her? Do you truly love her enough to dishonor yourself? I thought you loved Mulan…"

I immediately looked up at my sister. She stopped mid-sentence, looking at me and observing my reaction. "What, what happened that night? Where was Mulan?" she asked slowly.

"I wanted to talk to her. I really did. But she was dancing with another man and when I tried to follow her, she was riding a carriage. And I tried dancing with her, but all these girls kept coming in the way. And I couldn't dance with her! And Mao and my other comrades kept pushing these other girls in front of me and Mulan was angry and I didn't exactly understand why and…" My sister put a calming hand on my shoulder, and I sighed, running out of breath. Just so much happened that night, and I kept it all inside this whole time. So letting it out gave me so much relief.

"Did Mulan…" my sister faltered a bit. But I knew what she was asking. _Did Mulan see you with Mei in the act?_

"Yes," I sighed. "Mulan saw me walking out of the room with Mei. Mei was in the background pleading for me to come back in. And Mulan was so disgusted with me. And I chased after her trying to explain myself but she wouldn't listen. I don't know how else to explain it. I don't know how to get her to think of me. And the worst part sister is that she no longer trusts me or believes in me. She hates me."

My sister, being one of the most understanding people I know, offered me the best word of advice. "Get her to understand. Even if it means singing to her outside her window or announcing it to the whole world."

So I did exactly what she said. I wrote Mulan a letter, that said:

_Dear Mulan,_

_I'm writing to you on behalf on my actions that night at the ball. I'm sorry. I'm deeply and most sincerely sorry. I understand if you don't trust me anymore. I understand if you have the deepest hatred or disgust towards me. I understand. But I want to explain myself, and at least try to mend our friendship once again, because I can't stand having you mad at me. _

_That night, I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to dance with you. I wanted to say goodbye to you, but some things got in the way. I know that's not the greatest excuse but it's the truth. I wasn't trying to ignore you. I wasn't embarrassed to talk to you. But my comrades were just being pains._

_Now as for that last scene where you saw me walking out the room, it wasn't at all what you thought. I stopped her. She tricked me into going into her room. I knew it wasn't right and that's why I stopped. But you saw it as something else. I was wrong to be in there with her, but I got out before it got worse. I didn't take advantage of her; in fact it was the complete opposite. _

_So I hope you understand and find in your heart to forgive me. _

_Love, Li Shang_

So it wasn't the best written letter, but it came from the heart and within a few minutes I had it sent to her house, where I followed the messenger.

Mulan was outside sitting in the tree, looking up at the sky, swinging with the wind. The messenger interrupted her reverie and brought her back to the ground. He handed her my letter and walked away. But she stopped him and told him something, that I looked like, she wanted him to wait so she could resend the letter.

I watched as Mulan walked up the steps to her house reading the letter, and not regarding the people walking with large items out of her house. I laughed as she managed to stay unscathed. In the window of her room, I saw her writing something quickly and then she was gone from her window. I saw her give the messenger a brown package and her response on the top.

I raced home and found the package already on my desk. I immediately opened it and found a blanket in it. In a small letter, she stated how she liked my cape and her dog had ruined it a bit, so she gave me her blanket to compensate for it. But the thing I enjoyed the most was her letter, where she was completely understanding and forgiving. And I've kept her letter all this time, and not shown it to another soul. I immediately sat down at my desk to write her one more letter.

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**Special Thanks to:**

Crazyalmu007 – ah sorry! I didn't mean to get that wrong! My apologies! I hope you enjoy this chapter! As for your question, those girls who go to the Matchmakers (only certain nobles…and according to world history, Mulan was part of the rich north, considering she grew wheat. The poorer were in the south), were rich and selected. It's kinda like Cinderella. And China, back then was not as big, since it was only known as the Middle Kingdom, in the midst of what I believe is the late Sui or early Tang dynasty. Thanks for your review!

Pink princess 16 – yay! I'm glad you liked this! Thanks so much for your review! I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

BlueEyes – thanks for all those reviews and following me here! I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	7. Father and Son

Father and Son Relationships

Ah the father and son relationship. The supposedly strongest of all relationships. There is nothing like a father and son bonding: endless days by the sea fishing for fun, laughing non-stop about just anything that can be turned into a joke, causing trouble for your sister and mother together, getting in trouble together, learning actual life lessons that your teachers fail to teach you, learning about your craft or in other words the future job you would have when you got older, and last of all, talking about marriage and girls. If you got all of these down, and were able to talk or follow through without a problem in the world for even at least two of these things, then your relationship would be okay right? Besides, nothing can ever get between a father and his son right? Wrong.

I can honestly say this, my relationship with my father was so much better when I was younger. Even though I went to the Army and became everything he wanted me to be, our relationship was going downhill. I guess I changed and so did he. I knew that deep down, part of what he saw in me wasn't what he wanted me to be. It may have had to do with my process of thinking when it came to girls or something like that. But I'll get further into that later.

I love my father. And I still love him. But the times I want to remember most are when I was just a child. Now things were so much easier when I was a child. No girl drama, no high court drama, no stupid traditions to follow, but just me and my _own_ world that only I lived in. I didn't have to think about war, I didn't have to think about my future. All I had to think about was right then and now. I know this sounds pretty naïve of me, but what can I say? I loved life then!

But back to my father. He was always the best mentor for me. He took me fishing, swimming, and everywhere a father would take his son. I can honestly say, everything that I needed, I learned from my father. My relationship with my father changed over the years. It didn't change for the worst, but it didn't change for the better. I just finally grew up. And on that day when I was about eighteen, just a year and a half before I was to become Captain of my section of Imperial Army, my relationship with my father changed completely. I always hated him for that day, but I found in my heart some forgiveness, when he finally died. He never knew how much I hated him, but he also didn't get to see how much I loved him. So there was always an awkward space, but for that, I am truly sorry.

When I was little, my father and I used to talk about everything. And I mean everything. I looked up to him. I adored him. I thought of his as a god. I wanted to be just like him. He had a loving wife and four beautiful children. My father had an amazing career and was a good General in his time. Everyone loved him and respected him. So I looked up to him. He always seemed so wise, and caring. But I knew that one day it would all just fall apart, and the saddest part is, that it was over a girl.

Now, my father and I did not fight over a girl, to win her affection. That is disgusting. Though it was the custom of Chinese men to take in other women as their mistresses or wives, my father was not that type of man. And neither was I. In fact, my father still had the same picture of me, as a young boy who pushed away little Jia when she tried to play with me. I don't think he ever got that idea in his head, that I would soon grow up and possibly fall in love. So he never thought that women would ever be a deterrent for my career.

And they weren't. At least not to me! I mean I would pay attention to them now and then, but they were just people to have around, just as shallow as that sounds, but it was true. I think most of the time, the reason why I acted that way, was because I kept looking for one girl the whole time.

I saw Mulan a second time, at the Imperial Ball. This time I didn't make the same mistake I did last time. But she wasn't coming to me or making this any easier for me. It was almost as if this whole time she was ignoring me. I didn't blame her. I honestly hadn't completely recompensed for my actions, but I wasn't going to let that get between Mulan and I.

Towards the end of the dance, part of the time when couples actually started slow dancing, I looked around for Mulan. But she was nowhere to be seen. I looked around the entire palace, completely missing my slow dance time with her, but I finally found her wandering through the gardens. I ran after her.

Mulan looked like she was about to cry. I didn't know why, so I listened in. But I guess I came too late. Her friend was leaving and Mulan looked as if she was about to collapse upon the ground. I had never seen Mulan that weak in my entire life. When she turned to face me, I could have sworn she was going to cry so hard, but she didn't.

I was in the garden watching her. Mulan immediately turned around and looked at me.

"Shang!" She shouted at me. Mulan shook her head. "Please help me stop them," she pleaded with me.

"What do you want me to do Mulan? Chase after them? They're on horseback! I can't catch up to that!" I answered her, trying to be as comforting as I could.

"We can always try, can't we Shang?" She asked me, her eyes pleading.

I shook my head and walked over to her with a saddened look. She was so sad, yet strong enough to keep her emotions in tact. "Mulan, there is nothing I can do. I'm sorry." I shook my head and sighed, "You should know that once a woman makes up her mind, nothing can be done to change it. I'm sorry." Mulan looked away from me, probably angered by the fact by my stubbornness. But I, as stubborn as we both were, walked up to Mulan and moved her face to look at mine. I honestly stood there, completely frozen and unsure what to do. All I knew was that I wanted to kiss her and make things better. "Fa Mulan please don't be mad at me, just as you have been when I first met you, and the second time when I was at your home. You know I would do anything to help you out."

But of course Mulan ruined the romantic moment we shared because she could not stop thinking of her friend, Abi. And I honestly didn't blame her. "Abi was my best friend and she was there when I needed her most, and now I feel as if I have failed her." She said to me.

I sighed in impatience. It wasn't her fault. "You did every thing you could. Abi will understand and thank you later, I promise." I assured her.

I noticed that Mulan tried to smile, but tears poured down from her eyes. "You know," She said as the tears fell from my eyes, "She left with him because she found someone who loved her, someone who believes in her. Shouldn't I be happy for her? Yet at the same time I feel as if she is making a mistake. I mean, this goes against every thing my mother and father taught me, against all rules of tradition. But she's happy. Isn't that what matters?" She looked at me questioningly.

I didn't know what to say to that. Everything she asked, contradicted what I had learned and grew up with. "But is it enough to give up every thing? Is love worth it?" I asked me.

She didn't say anything. Mulan was completely distraught and I didn't want her to be worrying. When she didn't say anything I wiped the tears from her eyes and reassured her that every thing would be fine. I pulled Mulan in closer and she cried on my shoulder.

Soon Mulan finished crying and smiled at me and thanking me for being there. But honestly, I would have been there any time she ever needed me. And with that I saw the perfect opportunity. I smiled and whispered, "You are a strong lady Fa Mulan. Don't you ever forget that. Any man would be lucky to have you," I then leaned in closer and kissed her gently on the lips. She didn't struggle or pull back saying that it was forbidden. The kiss I had secretly waited for ever since I reached my teenage years and remembered her, or when I came back to her house, and lastly when our eyes met at the last ball. "Including me," I said once we parted, confessing my love for her. I squeezed her hand once last time before I left and smiled. For the first time, in a long time, I saw Mulan genuinely smile back at me. From the shadows of the trees, I smiled as I watched Mulan jump up in the air and giggled like any girl in love.

I never forgot Mulan after that. I wanted to spend more time with her. Even as I with my friends and the girls they "loved", I kept thinking of her. But my father didn't agree with my heart.

One day, I came home, from something, I honestly can't remember what. I walk in the front door and I was honestly laughing before. But as I walk in the front door, I find my father staring right at me with his arms crossed. I immediately stop laughing. "What's wrong father?" I asked nervously.

He tsk-ed and shakes his head. "Where were you earlier?"

I shrug it off. "Out with friends."

He gives me this look, as if he was trying to say that my story was unbelievable. "Oh really?" My father asks sarcastically. "And were there any girls there?"

I look at him incredulously with my eyebrows arched. "Yes there were," I said slowly, "Why does that matter?"

My father, who I saw was quickly getting angrier by the second, immediately grabbed my arm and pulled me to the stables. I followed him, only because he had a tight grasp on my arm, and feared what would be the result if I tried to pull away. He finally let go of me and boarded his horse. "Get on," he commanded.

I, who was quite not understanding at where this was going, asked him, "Where are we going?"

"I said, 'GET ON'." He boomed.

I immediately got on and followed him as he rode off. I was too distraught, trying to think about what he was getting angry about and where I went wrong, that I didn't realize where I was going. If I had actually paid attention, I would have figured out where I was going and maybe had a slight indication of what my father was going to do and maybe stopped what would have happened next.

As we neared the place, my mind became more aware of where we were going. Everything looked so familiar. Everything seemed more familiar. It wasn't until we got into the neighborhood that I realized: I was going back to Mulan's house. It was a bit unexpected. I was shocked and surprised. I wondered what my father's motives were, and hoped they were for the best. "What are we doing here father?"

I had hoped he would say something along the lines of this: "_I'm sick and tired of you always talking about Mulan and getting all sappy-like and dream-eyed all the time! You're always hanging around other ladies! It's about time you tell her father how you feel and ask for his blessing to marry her before she goes to the Matchmaker and you lose her! I can't have you acting like this! Man up Li Shang!_"

But I was wrong.

He got off his horse and I followed. My father remained silent. We stood not too far from her house. My father then turned to me and said, "You need to tell Mulan, that you do not want to see her again."

My heart skipped a beat. "Excuse me? What did you just say?" I asked dubiously.

My father gave me this look that I can't really describe. But I had seen it many times before: when he was disappointed. And it was then that I knew, I had better get my act together or that I'd better listen. "Your lust for girls is taking over your drive to becoming a Captain, which will stop you from becoming General like your father. Now how much of a disgrace will I become? And worse, what about you?"

I always hated when my father talked about me succeeding him. It was almost as if he only wanted me to succeed so he could brag about my accomplishments and say that it was all due to his discipline and severity. But it made him more like a machine than man. More of a General, than my own father.

I almost wanted to laugh when I heard what my father said. "_My lust for girls_?" The only girl I really cared about was Mulan. Sure girls often crowded around me, but I was never really interested in them. But what angered me was the fact that I had to get Mulan out of the picture. So I responded calmly, "I will not follow your orders father. I don't understand what your reasoning is behind it."

He looked at me and sighed. "You're so lost Li Shang! Your head is never in the Army practices or in the classes. You're up and in the clouds! I can't have you like that as you focus on your career! That is why you must tell her. NOW." My father grabbed my arm and started to pull me up to her porch.

"No," I said and pulled away from his grasp. "I'm not following."

He grabbed my arm again and looked at me with the most demanding eyes, "If you don't follow me, I can assure you that every day that you live with me will be a living nightmare. I'm not afraid to say you are a dishonor. Do you think Fa Mulan will love you after that?" I thought the answer would be no, because I thought she was just like any other Chinese woman. They mainly married for honor. But I didn't know. "And when you give up all that you have worked so hard for, everything you ever wanted for a woman, I can bet you that your life will be miserable. All those things can wait Li Shang. Trust me. She will wait. But I won't. So you either leave the house and forget Army Academy, or marry her."

I didn't want to disobey my father. But I didn't want to cut Mulan completely out of my life. I was just getting to know her better and then I had to just cut it off right there. I was this close to leaving my father right then and there. But I didn't. Why? Because I was a coward. He left me feeling a bit of uncertainty with Mulan, as if marrying her would be like investing in sailors who go searching for new land, or investing in a cow farm: the outcome and profit would be small, and the likeliness of success was small to none.

And so I stood at Fa Mulan's door once again, for the third time. I looked at her house, which I knew so well, even though I only visited twice before. As I walked up the steps, I silently cursed my father, with the hate growing stronger and stronger with each step I took. He said I would have more time later for "that sort of silly things", that I needed to refocus, and that I would never become General with an attitude like mine. What did he know? Nothing, that's for sure.

My father knocked on the door because god knows I didn't want to and because I couldn't take it. But mostly because he knew I wouldn't do it. Through the screen door, I looked at Mulan's mother, whom I felt I knew so well, and Mulan's grandmother, whom I wanted to know more. In the back, I saw her father, a man I would know like a father.

"Good evening Fa Li," I greeted Mulan's mother somberly.

"Yes good evening Fa Li," my father greeted her, "How are you this fine evening?" He asked.

"I'm quite fine thank you, General Li." She opened the door and gestured for them to come inside. He stepped in and I followed as a dog loyally does, or as a sheep does to the shearer though it knows its sad fate. "Please come inside and have some tea and join us for dinner."

"That would be wonderful; Shang and I would love…" My father started, but I interrupted.

"No, speak for yourself." I said a bit angrily. My father and Mulan's mother, whom I knew, knew something was up, looked at me. But that's the thing. I should have spoken for _myself_ and had the courage to stand up to my father. "We don't have time to stop and eat father. I must get back," I said with several hints of growing anger in my voice. "After all," I turned and gave my father, the dirtiest look anyone could ever imagine, "I must focus on my training. Isn't that right father?" I asked sarcastically, hoping to show him my disgust and anger in the matter. However, it didn't work.

He sighed and turned to ignore me and walked into the kitchen to speak with Mulan's father. Now at the time, I thought this was the last time I would ever see this house. Probably the last time I would ever speak to Mulan, or her hospitable family. And I knew that perfectly well. But I didn't want to stay to make it awkward between Mulan and I, because we both knew he loved each other. But I was destined to this fate. The main reason why I left was because I was a coward and such a wimp for not sticking up to my father. But more importantly, I was a coward to Mulan.

Before I followed my father into the kitchen, Fa Li gently grabbed me by the arm. I could have easily pulled myself away, because I honestly wanted to do so, but I didn't. I knew what was coming up though: a series of questions.

"Li Shang," she whispered. "What is wrong?"

I looked away in sadness. "Fa Li, I am deeply sorry for what I have to do. More importantly, I'm sorry for what I have to do to your daughter. I never meant to cause her this pain."

"Li Shang," she pleaded. "Please tell me what is wrong. Maybe my husband and I can fix this!"

I shook my head. "No, there is nothing you nor I can do. Once my father makes up his mind, he sticks to it."

She tugged on my arm. "Li Shang, surely there must be…"

I gently pulled away from her grasp and looked at her sadly in the eyes. "Fa Li, there is nothing we can do. Nothing at all. I am sorry for what I must do." I turned and walked to the kitchen, but before I entered I said, "Just tell Mulan that this is not of my choosing or doing, but it is my father's. However, I will understand if you do not look at me with the same respect anymore or treat me the same way. But I do ask for your understanding of my place in this matter." I sighed and walked into the kitchen.

My father and Fa Zhou immediately turned and faced me when they heard my footsteps. "Ah, there's my boy," my father said. "I could hear you a mile away with the treading that you're doing."

"I didn't think that the point was to come here unsurprised father," I argued. "I didn't know this was a test."

"Test? Bah!" He exclaimed. "You are a soldier! You are to always be on the alert, even for "little tests" as you call these. I'm just preparing you son!" He then turned and faced Fa Zhou and whispered in a tone that he thought I wouldn't be able to hear, "See what I mean? He's as ignorant as ever! His head is up in the clouds instead of on the ground on the battlefield!"

I growled and clenched my teeth, gritting them with each word my father said. Fa Zhou, on the meanwhile, watched from the sidelines observing as my anger exploded each time with stronger bursts, as I did my very best to control my outbursts. But for some reason, at that very moment, he knew exactly how I was feeling. "Ah Chen, he's only a boy! He isn't yet a General. Give him another year or so! He'll improve! He'll do whatever you want him to do! I see much of your spirit in him. Ah he might even be better than you."

I smiled, for the first time since coming here on this visit. I smiled for the first time in a few days. I smiled for the first time, in front of my father. That smile, calmed me down just a bit, but enough to keep me from losing it. But that smile soon turned sour with just a few words from my father.

"From what I see though," he argued, "I don't see how he can be even better than the dunce in the school. And the thing is, he won't do whatever _I say_, he'll do whatever _your daughter says_."

That lead to a mouth led agape by Fa Zhou and silenced gasps in the back, which I guessed came from Granny Fa and Fa Li. "Now what are you talking about Chen?" He asked suspiciously.

My father laughed heartily. Honestly at that moment, I felt like punching him, just to stop that evil laugh of his. "Don't you see it Zhou? Our children are in love! And they probably have been ever since they met! But I can't have that happen anymore! I can't have Li Shang pining over a girl, even if she is your daughter. I'll admit, the match was made in heaven and I am glad that they met each other. But there is another time and place for this. I can't have this happening right now."

Fa Zhou looked at my father with the most peculiar look in his eyes and then at me, with a look of sympathy instead. He sighed and closed his eyes, as if to contemplate on the entire thing. Fa Zhou then opened his eyes and asked, "Li Shang is this what you want?"

"Bah! Forget what he wants! This is about…" my father started. But Fa Zhou held up a hand to stop him.

He gave my father a look that I can't really describe but one that had my father definitely deserved! They then both turned to me, both with different looks, but the one I wanted to focus on was just Fa Zhou's. He asked me, "Honestly tell me Li Shang! What do you want to do? Now I know you were a boy who once hated girls when he was little, but may I remind you, that all changed when you met my daughter. I now see you as a man who has the ability to have any girl he desires, but for some reason, when all these beautiful young ladies rush towards you, I see you running for the door, _except_," he paused and my heart jumped a beat, "for when you see my daughter. I've seen the way you look at her, I've seen the way you've held her hand, I've seen so much Li Shang. But your father is right; you must focus on your career. But don't forget, you can have both; however, there is a balance required. Yin and Yang. You know the story. But, let me ask you, is that what you want? Do not let another person stop you from your dreams Li Shang, even if it is…"

"That is enough Fa Zhou," my father interrupted. "My son was taught to be obedient. He will listen to what his father says. But you are right. The decision is all his. Go ahead Li Shang. Tell him what you really came here for."

I wanted to scream, "_I came here to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage! My father originally wanted me to come here for something else, but you're right! I can have both! I want Mulan to be my wife while I am a Captain back in the Army!_" That would surely please both sides of this argument and it would please mine wouldn't it? But I kept thinking about the wrath my father would unleash on me. Why couldn't I just think about my own happiness? Why did I have to be a coward? For the first time in a long time, someone had asked me, what _I _wanted to do. I hadn't made that decision in a long time. And how did I repay him? By slapping him painfully right in the face with my decision.

I sighed. In the background I heard tiny footsteps. Her tiny footsteps: soft and quiet. I didn't want to say it, especially with her there, but I had to. My father would have killed me. "Fa Zhou," I said somberly, "I came here to tell you that I no longer wish to speak to your daughter Fa Mulan. I must focus on my career as a soldier, which I hope will in turn lead me to becoming a Captain and with a little more determination: a General. Spending time with your daughter has led me astray from all of these goals and she has become a deterrent to me." I looked up and sighed, closing my eyes, trying to focus on her in the background. "I hope you understand," I said finally.

In the back, I heard her running quickly to her room, sobbing heavily as she ran. I looked away from her father and tried to hold back my feelings, which got harder and harder to do. My father put a hand on my shoulder and whispered, "You handled that test very well individually Li Shang. You have a lot of courage to do so." He then turned to smile and bow in respect to Fa Zhou, who just sat there staring at him. "I hope this does not change our good relationship Zhou."

Mulan's father sighed and replied coarsely, "It does not _General_."

My father, taking the hint, left the kitchen and said to me as he walked out the door, "Li Shang, I will be waiting for you outside on the horses. Meet me there soon."

I wanted to say, "_I'll be right behind you father! Don't wait for me!_" because I was a coward. I couldn't stay there and face the Fa's alone, let alone Mulan. So I turned and started to walk after my father, without biding Fa Zhou goodbye or bowing to him, which I should have done in respect.

He then said to me as I walked out, "Your father may be waiting for you Li Shang, and your career may be waiting for you also, but I can assure you, my daughter will not be waiting for you." I immediately turned and faced with him with a look of pure shock on my face. I wanted to drop down at his feet and beg him to reconsider. But I didn't. "That was the decision you made Li Shang. And the world won't wait for you. But I hope that as you continue to age and get older in this world, you will learn from your mistakes. Your father may have said that you had great courage to answer to me, but that didn't take any courage, and you know that. The real courage would have been to stand up to your father and tell him how you truly felt. I hope you learn to follow your heart soon before it's too late Li Shang." He replied, which answered my question: It was too late to take it all back.

I sighed and walked out, where I found Mulan's mother and grandmother. Her grandmother immediately glared at me and walked out of the room. Fa Li, who was the one of first to forgive me after all of this, unsympathetically answered before I could speak "Get out of our house Li Shang."

"But Fa Li," I pleaded, "I'm…"

She shook her head and pointed at the door.

I knew I deserved all of this. They had to understand, but even I couldn't understand. I had this coming. I sighed and looked down the hallway to Mulan's room, where I found her standing at the end, staring at me. I knew then that if there was anyone that I had to explain myself to, it had to be her.

"Mulan," I started and walked toward her.

She immediately ran into her room and shut the door on me.

I knocked on her door several times. But there was no answer. I sighed and decided to explain myself. I sighed and looked down at the floor. "Mulan, please come out so I can talk to you and see your face. I'm sorry for what I did. I had to do that. My father would have been angry with any other choice I said. But I really do love you and…" I looked up and found myself staring face to face into the eyes of an angry Fa Mulan. I shook my head, completely taken aback by her, "Mulan, listen I…"

She pushed me out of her doorway and said, "No! This time, you listen Shang!" Mulan looked at me fearlessly in the eyes. "You had your turn to say whatever you wanted and I heard it loud and clear from my hallway. Don't tell me you're sorry, because I know you're not! You could have easily said whatever you wanted, but you didn't! You were a coward and did exactly what your father said. You know, watching that whole thing unfold in front of me makes me wonder exactly, whether everything you've told me was true or not! Well congratulations Li Shang! Applause to you! You're a great actor! Because I believed every single word you said."

I tried to grab her hand and tell her that everything I ever said to her was true. I really do love her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. And that I'm sorry for hurting her. But she pushed me even harder and punched me in the stomach. Mulan said something to me in a whisper; I never thought I'd hear this from her ever. "Get out Shang."

I was taken aback. "What did you say?"

"I said, 'GET OUT!'" She yelled at me. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!" Mulan started to charge at me, but I backed off in time, and her mother and grandmother came in time to hold her back. Even though Mulan did not have the military training, I could have swore she could have easily gone through those women, but she didn't to not hurt me.

I started to walk back to her, but Fa Li turned to me and glared at me. "Get out now Li Shang. Or I will call the police on you."

I knew that after hearing that type of cruelty, I was no longer welcome to the Fa household. As I walked out, I turned and saw Mulan crying on the floor with her mother and grandmother consoling her and calling me all types of names I never wanted to be called.

I walked out the door and was bid goodbye by no one. I shut the door and walked towards my horse where I found my father. I boarded my horse and he looked at me.

"What took you so long Shang? Did the Fa's beat you up for breaking their daughter's heart?" He laughed apathetically.

I glared at him, finally having the courage to stand up to my father. "Don't joke about that _ever_."

He shrugged it off. "Okay Li Shang. I know you're angry now. But when you get older, you will understand all that I have done for you and thank me." My father started to put his arm around me, but I swatted it off. He looked at me with a hurt look. I scoffed. My father then turned away and answered, "You had the chance to say that you wanted to marry her and lose your career."

I shook my head and yelled at him. "No I didn't have the chance to say that! Because I know you would have killed me for saying that and disobeying you. For your sake, I'm going to hope I will turn out to be a better General than you, because I hope that I didn't just lose Mulan for nothing."

I immediately rode off, without waiting for him. My horse was much faster than his and eventually I lost him and rode off somewhere else in the forest, and he rode home, knowing to leave me alone. And as I sat underneath a tree in the forest, I thought about what he said to me, "_When you get older, you will understand all that I have done for you and thank me._" But as I got older, I never did understand.

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AN: Well thanks to support from _Crazyalmu007, babyle,_ _Leila Wong_, I will probably be continuing this story. Don't worry, It will get better when Shang and Mulan meet again at Wu Zhong Camp. :) But this is how Mulan and Shang stopped talking for a year. Don't you want to hear Mulan's side of the story? Read my story, Stories Behind the Songs (which is a collection of one-shots that i promised my readers) The chapter is called "At Fifteen" based on Taylor Swift's song "Fifteen". I think every teenage girl can relate to this song. So I thought it would be interesting to relate this to Mulan. If you're interested here is the link: (.net/s/5528768/1/) Thanks! R&R!

**Special Thanks to: **

pinkprincess16 - thanks for your review! I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

crazyalmu007 - this chapter was just for you! :) thank you for your support! You are the best! Seriously! Thank you so much!

babyle - haha I will be going into movie territory! That's the most important part! I'm not sure if I'll do Mulan 2 though...we'll see. Thanks for your review! Thanks for the support!

BlueEyes - thanks for your review!

Trakrat - oooh I will totally check out your stories now! haha I can say right now, I was a bit depressed when I didn't get your reviews. You are like the best! Thank you for all your reviews! I don't take you for granted! Ever! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Leila Wong - I will definitely continue this story! I really appreciate your suport! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I hope you got my PM


	8. First Day of Camp

**Readers Beware: Many of your questions get answered in this story right here! Pay attention!**

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First Day of Camp

Ah the Wu Zhong camp. I spent most of my time there. Training. Training. Training. And more training. No surprise there. I was trained and ready to go join my father with the higher ranks. I remembered watching the men with white stallions and armor ride with my father through my town or ride to show us army recruits how things are done correctly. They would usually laugh as they watched us train and snicker to themselves. I felt embarrassed and would usually succeed so they wouldn't snicker at me. And then men would smile in approval and nudge my father in the side, who would just smile proudly back at me.

Now before Mulan came to camp, there was no draft. Men who came to the army were mainly volunteers or men, like me, who had to follow in their father's footsteps. My father's section of the Army was the most important part. The Calvary, the men who rode on horses but then would fight on the ground if necessary. Oh yes, they were brave and I admired them. But it was a hard job. They each had their own stallion, which was white most of the time. Once I passed the training class, I was more than excited to join my father. But he had other plans for me.

On one of the most important days of my life, I was sitting in my room at home, contemplating on army things, when my father barged into my room. He was panting and looked very nervous. His facial expression gave away his fear.

"What's wrong father?" I asked.

He breathed in deeply and straightened himself to compose himself. "Li Shang, we are needed at Wu Zhong camp. There I will tell you what is going on. I cannot talk about this in front of your mother and your younger brother."

I nodded and took the news as devastating. I immediately boarded my horse and followed my father to Wu Zhong camp. As we rode, all the things that could have happened kept popping into my head. _China is in trouble?_ _The Emperor is dead? A village is revolting? A peasant revolt has come along? The Army is being torn between two leaders? There is a famine? People are fighting for food? Our water supply is being tainted by enemies? Our country is under siege? We are being taken over invaders? Our family is in trouble?_ I sighed and tried not to over think the situation. But one last thought came to mind: _Mulan is dead?_ My head started spinning. It had been two years since I saw her last. She must have changed a lot. Without a doubt, she probably was already married. My heart sank and I thought about my life with her and how it could have been.

"Are you okay son?" My father asked as we pulled into the Wu Zhong camp.

"No," I angrily snapped and got off my horse to set up my tent. I remembered the fight my father and I got into. It had been two years and I had already forgotten and forgiven most of it. Even though I swore I would never forget, I did. I forgot about it until now. And as my father placed his hand on my shoulder, I forgave him _again_. We walked through the camp and I started to set up my tent. My father did not. I already knew that we would be staying for a while. I saw some people, whom I had never seen before setting up tents also.

Once I had finished setting up the tent, my father gestured me inside. I followed obediently and sat down as he did. Before he could start talking a legion of men followed in. One man gave my father a uniform. My father whispered to that same man, something I couldn't make out, but the man nodded and handed a uniform to me also. He smiled as he gave it to me and patted my shoulder.

"Go ahead Li Shang," my father said and gestured for the tent, "Change so we can see how it looks on you."

I shrugged not knowing why. I had recently finished my classes and I was already getting a special uniform. I came out with my uniform. I wore a dark armor with a bit of gray. Underneath was a light gray long sleeved tunic, to hide my shoulder pads. One of the men came to me and placed around me a red cape. I wondered what it was for, but the men then bowed slightly towards me. I bowed deeper and longer in respect. They all laughed as I did so, and I heard my father whisper, _he'll learn soon_. I immediately straightened up and faked a smile.

I watched as my father gestured for the mento go to the back of the camp. The men immediately ran on their horses and stationed there. I watched in awe. I started to walk towards my horse, but my father placed his hand upon my shoulder, stopping me. I turned to him wondering why he stopped me. "Not now Li Shang. That is not your place."

I bit my lip to keep from objecting. I had finished my classes. I was at the top of my class. I watched as some of my classmates rode in. They smiled and saluted at me. I smiled back. They motioned for me to go over there, but I shrugged and did the best I could to tell them I wasn't going with them. I didn't know why I wasn't going with them. Why wouldn't I be able to join them? Why wouldn't I be able to fight the enemy with them? Why wouldn't I be able to ride with them? I had proven myself worthy. The older veteran soldiers liked me and respected me even though I was not the General's son. I really did not understand why I had to stay back, and why my father was sheltering me from whatever they were going to do.

My father opened the tent flap for me and I sighed and walked in, that is until the sound of more horses came by. More soldiers came by and joined the ranks and so did Chi Fu. Chi Fu was this skinny, old, weak man who had the position of Chief Counsel. "That's Chi Fu," my father whispered, "many scholars and courts dislike him, for reasons I do not really understand. He is a respectable man and helps guide our wonderful Emperor. I believe that those who dislike him may be jealous of his power. Whichever the reason, do not get him angry Li Shang." I nodded and heeded my father's warning.

"Good morning," Chi Fu said as he got off his horse. "What a storm last night huh?" My father nodded. He then bowed deeply to my father. Chi Fu then gave me the most peculiar look and then bowed to me. I also bowed to him, but got up quickly. I noticed that he was still bowing down to me. My father knocked me down to continue bowing to him, much to my dismay.

"Good morning Chi Fu," my father greeted him as Chi Fu straightened up. "This," he gestured to me, "is my son Li Shang."

I gave a little nod to Chi Fu, not showing him any real respect.

My father turned back to Chi Fu, "Will you please stay out here to deal with the recruits? My son and I will discuss the Army plans."

"But with all due respect sir," Chi Fu tried to retort, "I am a Chief Counsel. I was not assigned to come here to just deal with recruits. Why not suggest a soldier to do so? I was assigned to come here to discuss Army plans. Why not let your son deal with the new recruits?"

_New recruits?_ My head was pounding. _Why would we need new recruits?_ I wondered.

"After all the recruits are done, you may come and rejoin us. I need to inform my son of what is happening as of right now, which I'm sure you understand," my father replied. "This may be a bit tedious for you to hear it again. In fact, why don't you keep watch of the recruits? That shouldn't be too hard a job for you, right Chi Fu?"

Chi Fu snarled when my father was not looking and followed his order. For now, my father was in charge and Chi Fu had to answer to him. I now understood why everyone hated Chi Fu. He was only mean to those who threatened his role or were menial to him. I snickered as I followed my father inside the tent while Chi Fu stayed outside.

My father sat down and I sat down across from him. He laid out a map of China in front of us. "Son," my father placed a hand on my shoulder, "Don't take this too heavily, but I must tell you what is going on. I have told a bit to your mother and she has taken the precautions and knows exactly what to do in an emergency. I fear for her safety."

"Father," I snapped, "What is going on? Why are there new recruits? Why are there several soldiers outside? Why am I not joining them?"

My father laughed. "All of those questions will be answered in due time Li Shang. You must learn some patience." I sighed. My father laughed again. "Take a deep breath. Everything will be fine. Just remember what you've learned from me, from your instructor, and from Sun Tzi, the master of War, the intelligent war strategist, the man who wrote the _Art of War_."

I smiled. I remembered reading his writings.

My father sighed. "The Huns have invaded China."

My eyes opened wide. My head started pounding. It was as if I couldn't hear or think. I was slowly losing it. My head started spinning. I was getting dizzy. I wasn't breathing. All these questions started pouring into my head: _How did they get over the Great Wall? How big is their army? Can we stop them? Has anyone been hurt yet? Why are they here? Do they plan to hurt the Emperor? Have we sent out spies? What are their plans? Why are we guarding the villages instead of the Emperor? How did you find this out? Are we safe? Is mother safe? Is she…_

"Li Shang," my father's voice brought me back to reality. "Are you okay son?"

I nodded.

He sighed. "The Huns are making quick progress along China. I have heard two villages have already been destroyed."

I grimaced.

"They were up in the mountains and near the place where the Huns first entered," my father continued. I sighed a bit of relief. They were far away from my house and far away from Mulan's. It was a bit selfish of me to thank the gods for their misfortune. More importantly, it was wrong of me. "We have a feeling they are trying to make their way to the Emperor. They are certainly taking the quickest way and not the scenic route."

"What do you plan to do father?" I asked.

He sighed. "Well…"

At that moment Chi Fu entered in from outside. From what I could tell, he was a bit angry and frustrated. He sighed as he entered in.

My father continued, completely ignoring Chi Fu. He reached from behind him and pulled out a feather pointer. My father then started to lean over the map. "The Huns have struck here," he pointed to a village close to the Great Wall. It was a poorer village. I did not know anyone there. "Here," my father pointed to a port, which luckily was not an important trade stop. I hoped that people had left before they were hurt, and the only thing that was lost was profits and goods. "And here." He pointed to another village. A village that was much closer than I expected. I knew few people from the last village. One image that came to mind was the kind old couple that had fed me on my stop there. I held my breath in fear. I prayed a silent pray for them and the people of the villages. My father continued, "I will take the main troops up to the Tung Chow Pass and stop Shan Yu before he destroys this village."

I smiled. My father always was very brave. I hoped that he would stop the Huns in time.

Chi Fu chuckled. "Excellent strategy, sir! I do love surprises." He chuckled nervously again.

My father and I threw him a look. I watched as Chi Fu immediately shut up and looked away. I bit my lip from laughing at him.

My father then turned to me and smiled. "You will stay and train the new recruits. When Chi Fu believes you're ready, you will join us..." From behind him, he gave me a sword. "Captain."

I opened my mouth in shock, but in amazement. So that was why my father decided to keep me here. This is why I am not going to join the other soldiers. This is why I have the special armor. This is why Chi Fu threw me a look, wondering why I was wearing this. This is why the soldiers laughed when I bowed to them. This is why I am in the tent right now. I smiled. This was too good to be true. I took the sword from my father. "Captain?" I asked, wondering if I had heard him right, wondering if he had really chosen me, and whether he was making the right decision.

Apparently Chi Fu had the same question. "Oh! This is an enormous responsibility, General! Perhaps a soldier with more experience?"

He tried to object, but my father had my back. "Number one in his class, extensive knowledge of training techniques," he started to list. I watched as my father touched his beard and muttered, "An impressive military lineage." I laughed quietly as I realized that my father was referring to himself. "I believe Lee Shang will do an excellent job."

When I heard those words, I immediately straightened up to show them that I was capable. I was able to do the job, _well_. "Oh I will! I won't let you down!" I reassured them. "This is..." I looked at my father excitedly and he threw me a look that I understood. "I mean..." I calmed down a bit and answered obediently and bowed holding the sword in my hand, "Yes sir."

My father immediately got up and walked to the tent entrance. "Very good, then. We'll toast China's victory at the Imperial City." He smiled at me and gave me a reassuring nod. My father then turned to Chi Fu and said, "I'll expect a full report in three weeks." He then walked out.

I followed my father to the entrance, but Chi Fu turned and stopped me. The evil scary old man then said warningly, "And believe me, I won't leave anything out." He then walked out to follow my father.

I scoffed at him. I would prove myself worthy. I would train these soldiers well and make them great soldiers. I laughed and tied my sword to my side. I looked up and pictured myself riding in charge of these troops. I promised I would do anything to join my father in battle. I could do that. I could prove myself. I smiled. "Captain Li Shang," I said to myself, thinking of my title. It was a nice title. "Leader of China's finest troops," I said louder. I smiled and thought of my strong soldiers. No, I could do better than that. "No, the greatest troops of all time," I said spreading out my hands as if I could picture it right then. I laughed to myself. This would be easy. I would be joining my father in no time. I stepped outside. What I found was not at all what I expected.

I watched as my men fought and punched each other. I saw fish being thrown around. I saw a man in the back pounding a large watermelon into another man. My mouth opened in shock. _The greatest troops of all time?_ My head laughed at me. _China's finest troops?_ My head laughed at me again. There was so much irony in that statement. I sighed. A man with a dragon tattoo came up to me and my father. He looked at my father and saluted. We watched as he then fell to the ground. My father and I shared a glance.

"Most impressive," Chi Fu said sarcastically.

My father laughed and got on his horse. "Good luck Captain!" He shouted from his horse. "Yah!" He kicked his horse and ran out, followed by two lines of soldiers. I watched as the hundreds of soldiers followed him out. Without a doubt, he would meet up with the other lesser Generals and they would talk about their strategies.

"Good luck…Father," I whispered as I watched them go. I sighed and prayed a silent prayer for him and his soldiers wishing for his safety.

Suddenly I felt a nudge on my side from Chi Fu. I immediately looked at him, and he gave me a little smirk, "Day one."

I sighed. I would prove him wrong. I will show to him. These soldiers will be the greatest troops of all time. I looked at the man on the ground. Okay, maybe China's finest troops. Either way, I will be credited with the honor as being their leader. I firmed up inside and angrily marched over to the soldiers. "Soldiers!" I shouted.

The soldiers separated in fear and showed one small soldier cowering in fear. I smirked a bit and laughed. They all pointed at him and shouted, "He started it!"

I walked closer. I watched as he peeked out of his little comfort zone. I looked down at him curiously. The boy immediately straightened up and dusted himself off. I got closer to his face and yelled, "I don't need anyone causing trouble in my camp."

This got to him. I watched as the other soldiers stepped back in fear or snickered at him, knowing what trouble he was going to get into. "Sorry," the boy answered in a high voice. This started me. I looked at him again and he opened his mouth in shock, as if he knew something was wrong. "I mean," he coughed and said it a bit lower, "Sorry you had to say that," He said in a deeper voice, "But you know what it is when you get those manly urges," And the boy punched me in the side and I gave him a curious look. The punch didn't even hurt, but he punched me as we were good friends. But I was his Captain. I had to let him know that. "Just gotta KILL something," I watched as he shook his hand, because the punch hurt. I had to keep from laughing, especially since three men were laughing in the back. "Fix things, cook outdoors…" He continued to ramble on. I had to stop this. This boy was a joke.

I shook my head. "What's your name?" I commanded him to answer.

The boy then started to stammer. Chi Fu came to the rescue and commanded the boy to answer again. "Your commanding officer just asked you a question!" He poked the boy's nose with his ink pen. The boy winced in fright.

"I've got a name and it's a boy's name too," He answered. I had to keep from just punching this boy. He was really testing my patience. This boy was a mess. First he winced from Chi Fu. How do you wince from him? It's Chi Fu! Second, of course it was a boy's name! Unless…but I didn't know at the time.

"His name is Ling," the boy whispered to no one in particular. I guessed it was to me.

I sighed in impatience. "I didn't ask for HIS name, I asked for yours!" I yelled at him.

"Ah-chu!" He yelled at me.

"Ah-Chu?" I looked at him curiously. What kind of name is Ah Chu? Now I knew that this boy was testing my patience. Just before I was about to pick this boy up by the collar, he answered again.

"Mushu…" He whispered.

"Mushu?" I asked again.

"No!" He immediately answered.

I growled. "Then what is it?" I yelled at him. I held up my fist and clenched it. I remembered what my father told me about patience and waited for his answer. It came as a shocker to me.

"It's Ping," He answered quietly.

"Ping?" I asked again. Ping. Where had I heard that name again? I remembered. I knew. I shook my head. There was no way. No way at all. I shook my head again. "Let me see your conscription notice." The boy handed me the conscription notice. I opened it and read it: _Your Emperor requests the presence of Fa Zhou…_I thought I read that wrong. I read over it again. "Fa Zhou?" I asked him. "The Fa Zhou?" But that would have meant…I looked at him. He was so small. So fragile. So weak, unlike his sister. So timid, unlike his sister. I had a small smile upon my face. It was Mulan's younger brother. The boy I had wanted to see. The boy that would get everything Mulan wanted.

Chi Fu interrupted my thoughts, "I didn't know he had a son."

_Neither did I. _I wanted to say, but I waited for Ping to say something.

He cleared his throat. "Err…He doesn't talk about me much." Ping then spit and I watched as the spit hung from this mouth.

Chi Fu whispered, "I can see why! The boy's an absolute lunatic!"

I sighed. This boy was an embarrassment. The soldiers in the back laughed at him. I felt a bit of sympathy for this boy, but I wouldn't show him any. He came here to be trained just like the other men. But I knew these boys wouldn't be any different. They weren't real soldiers. They were sons of farmers and workers. Poorer men. Sons of wealthy birth were already soldiers.

I started to circle around Ping and study him. He looked a bit like his sister. My head snapped at me:_ He needs a punishment_. "Okay, gentlemen, thanks to your new friend Ping, you'll spend tonight picking up every single grain of rice." The soldiers groaned. I smirked. They would know that this is a hard job, that I am their boss. "Tomorrow," I warned them, making sure to look them all in the eyes, "the real work begins."

I then walked to my tent and left the flap open to watch their work. I found myself staring at Ping. He resembled his sister. For one thing, he was skinnier than the rest, but then again, so was Ling. There were so many questions I wanted to ask him, so many things I wanted to know about him, about his sister and how she was doing. But for now, I wasn't going to baby him. I was going to make things even harder for him, so that way he'd beg for help. I later found, he was just as stubborn as I was. But it was only the first day of camp. There was much more ahead of us and I was just getting started.

* * *

**Author's Note: **haha this may be one of my favorite chapters (mainly because this is my favorite scene in the movie). I just wanted to let my readers know that I am going to go with the movie and add a couple of scenes between Mulan and Shang which will make them an even cuter couple than ever! (don't worry it won't be cheesy!) Thanks to all my readers and especially to my reviewers! You guys are awesome! I like where this story is going! I'm glad I decided to continue it! R&R! (btw, I'm surprised no one was like bashing Shang for what happened between him and Mei)

**Special Thanks to:**

**crazyalmu007 - **well you got it point on! They meet again in Wu Zhong, 2 years later! Haha I don't think i will go on through the 2nd film. I may just skip it entirely or just give it on chapter. It depends. I wasn't very happy with the 2nd movie, but I'll admit I liked it. I really want to thank you for being an awesome reader/reviewer! Thank you so much for the support! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for your review!

**baby le - **Thank you for your review! I'm sorry it broke your heart! But how else would I get Shang away from Mulan? And I sensed his hot and cold relationship from the movie (even though it rarely showed anything). I just felt like his father always put too much pressure on him and always expected too much of him and placed him on too high an altar (thus Chi Fu's exclamation: "This is an enormous responsiblity! Perhaps a soldier with more experience?") Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

**Leila Wong - :D **That made me smile! I'm glad you like this story! But like I told baby le, I feel as if his father put too much pressure on him, thus he had to leave Mulan. (besides, I had to get Shang awayfrom Mulan, other wise he would have recognized her at camp!) And thank you! Shang was a coward! It was his decision! He could have stood up to his father! But I also loved putting a relationship between Shang and Fa Zhou. As if Fa Zhou was the father Li Shang wanted. And I think Shang's father would have been happy to have Mulan be his daughter in law, he just wanted Shang to wait to marry her. And you see in this chapter how Shang is afraid she may have already been married! Now you get to see why Shang was especially harder on Mulan or "Ping" and the real relationship between them.

**pink princess 16 - **Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! I bet you were a bit sad by Shang's cowardice. Thanks for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	9. I'll Make A Man Out of You

Early that next morning, I heard scuffling going on. Of course, I had to be up early. But last night, I couldn't sleep. It just wasn't happening. I wasn't so sure about my new job as Captain. Maybe Chi Fu was right; someone else with more experience deserved the title. Someone who knew what it was like to train recruits. Someone who knew how to deal with troublemakers. It was already the first day and I was having problems with Ping.

I sighed and walked out of my tent. It was still too early for anyone to be up. Yet I saw just a few of the camp staff up and working. I took my stuff and walked to a hill where I could sit and watch the camp from below. I sighed and sat down looking down at the camp.

_Ping_. Why had that name bothered me so much? Maybe because it was Mulan's little brother. My head hurt. It was almost too easy. But I knew that Ping was the way back to Mulan. It wasn't right. But I knew I had to do it. I sighed. And again, I found myself thinking about her. It had been so long.

But the sun shone on me and I realized that it was time for me to get back to camp. I watched as the recruits gathered down below me and ran back to camp. As I ran, I realized that I was wearing only a loose shirt and pants. I sighed. It would be enough for training. I would just have to train with no shirt on.

As I paused by my tent to regain myself, I listened in on their conversations.

"Why hello Ping," Ling started, "Are you hungry?"

I watched as he smirked a little and turned to him with a fist. But Yao beat him to it and grabbed Ping by the collar.

"Yeah," Yao replied. "Cause I owe you a knuckle sandwich."

All at once the soldiers started to cheer on and surround Ping. I smirked wondering if I should come in. But I knew I had to before they started another riot and I would have to punish them again. "Soldiers!" I boomed. And immediately, they all lined up.

I took my shirt off and put it next to the pole. As I was informed later by a certain someone, someone was certainly checking me out. I then grabbed the arrow and walked along the soldiers to inspect them. "You will assemble swiftly and silently every morning," I said as a forewarning. "Anyone that acts otherwise will answer to me."

At once, I heard Yao mutter. "Ooh, tough guy."

That did it for me. I immediately got my bow and arrow and aimed it at Yao. Immediately the soldiers backed off, leaving Yao an easy target. Way too easy a target. I shook my head. These men would easily give up their comrade? There was definitely no team work. No confidence. I sighed. Besides, killing Yao was not my intention. I then aimed the arrow to the top of the pole. This was a simple duty. I got this about two weeks into the training though. But at the time, I was fifteen. I thought that this wouldn't be too hard to the soldiers, but it would work as a metaphor of hard work and determination: to reach the arrow or your accomplishments, you must have discipline and hard work. Then you will finally accomplish it. I honestly guessed that it would take them maybe a week, and then they would solve it. Boy was I wrong.

"Thank you for volunteering," I smirked. I noticed that the other soldiers were laughing. I chuckled inside. Oh just you wait boys. "Retrieve the arrow."

I watched as Yao walked over like an angry gorilla. I tried not to laugh as I imagined him walking with his arms too. I snapped out of it, when I heard him mutter, "_Imma get that arrow pretty boy. And I'll do it with my shirt on._"

But I smiled only again. _I'll get you back for that comment_, I thought. So I beckoned for Chi Fu just before Yao could even start climbing. "Wait," I said to Yao, as he stood at the base of the pole. "You seem to be forgetting something." I smirked. I gave him a large medallion and put it on one of his arms. I then raised his arm to demonstrate to the other soldiers, "This represents discipline." Yao almost fell with that. I had to hold him to give him the other medallion. I then held his arm up, "And this represents strength." And with that, Yao fell flat to the ground. I walked away. "You need both to reach the arrow," I said, with a hint as to how to solve this riddle to reaching the arrow the easy way.

I watched as every single man failed over and over and over again. I sighed. I had to remember to have patience. It was only the first day anyway. And I had started off with something quite hard. I massaged the back of my neck. I already felt the tension and the stress. "We've got a long way to go," I sighed as I watched Ping massaging his behind.

I then decided to try something easier. I reached into my bag and threw a bunch of sticks to the recruits. I was going to teach these men balance and grace, yet strength in each movement. This would help them with their sword techniques, because the gods know that they needed it. To demonstrate how skilled I was, and hopefully inspire them on how they want to be, I got my stick and put it in two pots so that I had one at each end. I then threw the pots up in the air and was able to destroy each pot with just one swing. The soldiers watched in amazement. I then pointed my stick at the soldiers and told them to follow what I had just done, but of course without the pots. But of course, Ping made it worse by completely knocking out all the soldiers with his stick. He was moving around uncontrollably. I sighed and did a back flip to get to him. As I got there, I tried to stop him, but he hit me in the gut. I growled and then took his stick away from him, before he could hurt anyone else and picked Ping up by the collar. He winced as I yelled at him. But what made me get even angrier at him was that I saw that Chi Fu was already denoting me.

Already losing my patience, I decided to take the soldiers to the forest to test them on their eye and hand coordination. I had hoped that on the way I would maybe cool down just a bit. And that maybe, the soldiers would see already how tough it was and maybe do a bit better. I put arrows and bows and pomegranates in front of the soldiers, along with mini catapults. The goal was to shoot the arrow through the pomegranate just as it meets eye level and straight into the target, which was at eye level for some. It was difficult, but certainly not too difficult! Nothing impossible! But of course, leave it to these recruits to mess that up. I even caught Ping cheating by already having the pomegranate in his arrow. I growled at Ping. I was already not liking this guy, even though he was Mulan's younger brother.

To make this day even harder, I decided to climb with these men up to the mountains. There I tried to teach them balance throughout the whole body. I placed a bucket on their heads and held a stick in my hand, showing that I could keep my body firm and steady yet strong and able to hit the stones away. Again, each soldier failed. But Ping was able to hit one stone. But hitting the stone was not the point. I sighed and decided to take them down to the river.

There I tried to teach them agility in their moves. The goal was to catch one fish. Just one fish. But did any of them succeed? None. In fact, the only thing Ping succeeded in catching was Yao's foot.

I sighed. Towards the end of the day, I decided to do another agility exercise. Dodge the flaming arrow. Simple enough right? Apparently not. Several of the men caught on fire. Including Yao, whose bottom caught on fire, which I believed was the most severe injury of all.

I continued these exercises for a week. But did any of these men improve? No! I saw no improvement whatsoever. I was not even training them too difficultly. Men who were probably seven years younger than these guys could do these drills. I was ashamed and horrified. So I tried to start it with something new each day. For the second week, we started with stone breaking. Unfortunately that left Ling with a couple of loose teeth and some lost. Then, we tried combat fighting. That left Ping with a black eye instead. Later that week, seeing as nothing as working, I thought I'd probably end with some quick foot work, by jumping over the poles on the river. That completely failed, when Chien-Po decided to stop, causing the rest of the solders to hold back, and some to fall into the river. Lastly, I tried target practice with canons. Not even close. The soldiers didn't even get anywhere close to their target. In fact, Ping even set Chi Fu's tent on fire. I knew I had to try something new. By then, I had even stopped on the arrow retrieving exercise. Nothing was working.

Start of the third week, I decided to take these men up to the mountains to work on their strength. I made each one carry a bamboo stick strapped with two sacks to each end. It wasn't too hard, for a man. But halfway through Chi Fu pointed out that Ping was suffering. I took up his stick and carried it myself, running to catch up with the other soldiers. At the time I didn't understand why this was so hard for him. Why was he always behind? That night, I decided to make one decision, even though I honestly did not want to, knowing it would break Fa Zhou's heart and his entire family. But we all knew that Ping was slowing me down and his comrades from learning. I could not have that. Mulan certainly would have hated me for this, but I had to do it. That night, I went to Ping with his horse and told him, "You're unsuited for the rage of war, so pack up. Go home you're through. How can I make a man out of you?" It was rough. But he needed to know it. And I wasn't going to treat him any differently. Each night I sat on the hill overlooking camp, looking at the unretrieved arrow. And each time I was reminded of what a failure I was and what a failure these men were. Little did I know that Ping would be a source of inspiration to these men. Something I had failed to do. Something I should have done. Little did I know that those words would take a greater impact on Ping than I had thought it would. Because that night, Ping did something everyone else had failed to do. Retrieve the arrow.

It was amazing just watching him reach the arrow. It was almost inspiring. Still to this day, when I see Mulan do that same thing, I get goosebumps in my spine. That next morning, after I had told Ping that, I stepped out of my tent and found the arrow shot down in front of me. I looked up and found Ping. And for once in that whole time that the soldiers had trained, I smirked. It wasn't much, but it was a smirk. I looked around at the scene unfolding in front of me. The soldiers were cheering Ping on, something that I never believed would happen even if someone had told me that would happen. But as Ping jumped down from the pole, he looked me in the eye waiting to see what I would say. I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "I want to see that done again."

The soldiers groaned, but then laughed with Ping. Ping, who had a smile on his face, saluted me and said, "As you wish, Captain."

From then on, every thing had changed. The soldiers were improving so quickly. They shot the pomegranates into the targets perfectly. They shot down the Shan-Yu doll with just one canon. Ling was able to break the stones. Chien-Po was able to jump across the columns on the river, and not just jump, but also do flips on each column. Yao was finally able to run through the flaming arrows and with quick speed I might add. But finally, Ping, who was the most improved of them all, and now my best soldier accomplished all his exercises better than anyone else. Ping now led us on the strength exercises where we carried the bamboo stick and the two bags on the end. He caught several fish, which we used for dinner several nights. And more importantly, he did something none of the soldiers were able to do, kick me to the ground and actually make his kick hurt.

By the end of the day, Ping came up to me and asked me one thing that I'll never forget. I was just getting back from a shower and had just pants on. My hair was down and I was about to go into the mess hall, but I met up with Ping. I nodded a bit to Ping and he did too. But I noticed that he was still looking at me, so I decided to ask. "What's bothering you Ping? You did well today."

He stopped and walked closer to me, but stumbled a bit as he got closer. This was a peculiar to me at the time, but I understood why he acted this way later. "Um…nothing…" he stuttered. "I just…uh…" I gave him the most peculiar look, and he snapped it out. "I just wanted to ask you, aren't you glad you didn't send me home and kept me here?"

I laughed. "Yes Ping. I'm glad." I watched as he smiled and I answered tenderly, "I would have never wanted to let you go. I'm sorry I almost let you go. I never want to make that same mistake again."

For a moment Ping's eyes softened a bit, but as he realized what was going on. His eyes widened and he turned and started walking away, stuttering as he walked away. "Um…thanks Captain…those words were really sweet, I mean inspiring! Um…thanks!"

As I watched him walk away, I looked around making sure no one was watching. I hit myself in the head and shook my head, beating myself up inside. I just talked to him as if he was Mulan himself. I had to get a grip on myself. But I kept asking myself, was Ping a boy? He was too skinny. But then again, so was Ling. I knew I had to talk to Ping about his sister. Because this was just becoming too much.

* * *

**AN: **This chapter, as you can tell was based completely on the song. Of course, I had to spread it out a bit, considering that their training could not have happened in 3 minutes and 22 seconds. :) I apologize for my long absence. But I will probably release another chapter for this story and my other story Reasons to Hate You, later this break. I've just been so busy! But thank you for your patience! R&R! (Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the others! I promise the next one will be even longer!)

**Special Thanks to:**

**crazylamu007 -** Um thanks for the grammatical corrections. I've been trying to update as quickly as I could so I rarely have time to look over these stories again. But thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for your review!

**pinkprincess16- **:) Thanks! You see Shang sorta becoming less of a coward here. I bet you're wondering what will happen between Shang and Ping next chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for your review!

**trakrat - **haha I'm glad you came back to read this chapter! *huggs* I will get to reading your stories asap! Thanks for being an awesome reader/reviewer!

**Leila Wong - **Agh! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Right?! I love the scenes at camp! But I like to think more happened than what we think! :) I bet the last scene in this chapter was a bit of a shocker! :) I love writing about Shang because I certainly would have like to have think that he at least thought Ping was kinda a girl on the inside. But as you can see, their chemistry is already forming even though they barely know each other. The movie shows that, but I love to get into further depth about it. Thanks for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**DaniCimo11 - **Aww thanks! I will get to reading your fanfic...I believe yours is _At the Beginning_ right? I wish you luck as you write your fanfics! Thanks for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	10. Yes, Sir!

"Yes, Sir." That was the phrase I heard from every single soldier, even Ping, who was one of the most disobedient soldier I ever knew. And it was a phrase that I would wonder if Ping really meant.

Each and every day I had been wanting to talk to Ping and maybe talk about his sister a bit more. And now that the soldiers' training was slowing down, considering that they were improving so much, I had more time to talk to Ping. But oddly enough, it was hard for me to talk to him. I guess I couldn't do it because it was awkward. But not awkward in the way that couples are. It was more awkward in the sense that I was afraid and unsure of what to say to him, because I thought that he would be angry with me also.

So each day I would try and talk to him like a pathetic guy courting a woman. And even though Ping was a guy, it was almost the same thing. Except, I was using this guy. And I guess I paid for it in the end. But it was okay.

The first time I tried talking to Ping, I completely failed. It was evening and in the mess hall. The other soldiers had gone to bathe in the lake and it was just Ping and me in the cafeteria. I entered and I felt Ping's eyes on me the whole time. I knew not to look up to avoid the awkward glance. As I got my food and stood at the end of the dinner line, I had to look up. "You're lucky," the cook said to me, but what I failed to hear was the rest of his sentence, _I was about to close up for the night._ So as you can imagine, it caught me by surprise.

I coughed. "Excuse me?" I didn't know what he was implying there.

He in turn gave me a peculiar look. "I said I was about to close up for the night Captain."

I nodded. "Oh yeah, thanks cook." I then started to walk to Ping, who immediately lowered his eyes when I started walking to him.

I was dressed the same way as I did every morning, except with a shirt. I decided to sit right in front of him. Ping stiffened a bit when I sat in front of him. He smiled and nodded to me and I did the same. I noticed he was acting a bit jumpy, but I decided not to say anything about it. "Hey Ping, how's the meal?" I asked, looking at the meal in front of me. It was obviously one of the cook's experiments. It looked disgusting.

He laughed. "I guess it's alright, if you look past the appearance. It needs a bit of flavor, but eh? What can you do if this is all you have?"

I chuckled. "Not eat it," I responded as if it was the most obvious answer.

He looked at me in shock. "How can you not eat? I mean, it's important to eat no matter what! You need your energy especially during training! And don't say you're not training because you go through the exercises with us."

I raised an eyebrow. "You sound like my mother."

Immediately Ping started to blush and mutter under his breath. To avoid the awkwardness, I laughed and reassured him, "But it's okay I guess. I miss her."

Ping nodded as if he said that he understood. "Yeah I miss my family also."

Breakthrough. At the time I knew this had to be the perfect time to mention it! "Yeah I miss your family also."

Ping choked on his food and immediately looked at me straight in the eyes. "Excuse me?" He asked me, probably wondering if he heard me correctly.

I nodded slowly and looked him in the eyes. "Yeah, I miss your family," I paused, swallowing slowly, wondering how to say this, "Especially your sister."

His eyes widened, but then his brows furrowed. I looked at him, waiting to see what he would say. He immediately threw his plate at me and I dodged it. Ping then stood up and glowered at me. I braced myself for some yelling like as if Ping was some crazy lovesick heartbroken girl, but what Ping said was neither yelled nor thrown at me. Instead it was softly said, but his words were so harsh. "You broke her heart. You had your chance." And like that, he walked out and left.

I wasn't going to chase after him. It wasn't to him that I owed an apology or a big scene where I was going to bow down on my knees and ask for forgiveness. No, that belonged to Mulan alone. But I knew I had to get Ping to trust me at least. Because as soon as this war finished, I would make my way home to the Fa house and talk to Mulan. But as I sat there and contemplated on the whole thing, I remembered what Fa Zhou had told me. Mulan wouldn't wait for me. Maybe this whole thing was pointless. Maybe she was already taken. But that's nothing a Captain can't fix. A little night visit to her husband. Maybe breaking in the house would be necessary…a sword…I shook my head. It was wrong. I couldn't think that way. I would be forever shamed. Plus, maybe it wasn't so necessary. I had to ask Ping if his sister was married. But not tonight, even though I had to know now.

That next morning, as the soldiers aligned up, I thought of harder training exercises. Of course I had to use some of the older ones, but I had to give new ones. It just so happened that each time I came up with an even harder exercise, Ping came to mind first. Honestly, I did not mean it like this, but Ping always was the first do the exercise or was the poor victim. And each time Ping would glare at me. But I didn't mean it, and I guess it was good that it came down to that. Because by the end of the day, I met up with Ping. Actually, it should be more of, Ping came to me and glared at me. "What do you think you were doing there earlier today?" He asked me angrily.

I shrugged and continued to walk on. "I honestly do not know what you are talking about Ping."

He ran to catch up with me, power walking to keep by my side as I walked casually. "Oh you know exactly what I'm talking about Captain! I mean seriously? I was getting all the hard tasks and playing your test dummy! Why not pick Yao huh? Or Ling? Or maybe Chien-Po, who would have gladly taken it?"

"You were the first to come to mind," I told him casually. "And besides, I am Captain. My methods are non-negotiable."

He scoffed at that. "That is complete bull! You know it! You just hate me because of what I said!"

That made me stop. I looked at him in the eyes and he glared back. "Listen Ping, I'll admit I broke your sister's heart. And for that, I am truly sorry. But I honestly loved her, with all my heart. And you of all people, I wish would understand why I chose my job over her. You want to please your father don't you Ping? But I should have listened to your father. Now I'm doing this crap job as Captain and hating every minute. Was it worth it? Hell no. But it's wrong of you to even think I'm getting revenge on your sister through you. I'm not that kind of man Ping. So go ahead and run home after this war and tell your sister every thing I've said if you want. I don't care." So I continued to walk after that, hoping with each step, that maybe, and hopefully, Ping would call out to me. And I was right. Because midway, Ping did call out to me.

"Wait, Shang!" He yelled and ran after. I immediately turned around to face him. Ping ran to stand right in front of me. I kept back the urge to say that he called me Shang, instead of Captain or sir, but to me, it meant that he thought of me as a friend. And for now, that was what I wanted. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I guess I took you the wrong way the first time."

I smiled. "It's funny to me, that a few years ago, I talked to your sister about you when you were just in your mother's womb. Your sister said she was going to name you Ping and I guess she wasn't kidding."

Ping smiled.

"So how is your sister?" I asked, sighing and crossing my arms.

Ping smirked. "I may trust you," he said. "But as for right now, I am not answering any questions yet. But if you want to know, she's doing just great at home."

I playfully scowled. "Fine," I muttered. "Is there anything I can do to make you trust me a bit more?"

He grinned. "Yeah actually there is. Starting off with answering why you decided to pick me for all the most difficult exercises!"

I laughed. "I told you! You were the first to come to mind!"

Ping crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

I laughed. "And," I said leaning in closer to Ping's face, "You are my best soldier." I whispered. I then smiled and left Ping with his mouth agape.

The next morning as the soldiers lined up, Ping came in late. I caught him running in late. I sighed and shook my head. "Ping why are you late?" I asked.

His eyes widened as he got into line. Ping then forcefully turned to face me. "I…I…I'm sorry sir," he stammered. "I'll wake up earlier next time."

I scoffed and crossed my arms. "Yeah you had better start waking up earlier. You're always late. Next time you're late you will be punished. Is that understood soldier?"

Ping then nodded, "Yes sir," and saluted me.

I guess you could say, Ping's and my friendship grew. Of course he was soldier and I was his Captain, but we were good friends. I mean I guess I hadn't gotten that close to someone in forever. Part of me wanted to say that I was only getting closer to him because of his sister, but honestly, I rarely thought about her now. It was almost as if I found everything I loved about Mulan in Ping. She was reflected into him. Now that doesn't mean that I was falling in love with Ping, but it just meant that I found myself a friend, and a good one at that. It also didn't mean that I would be easier on Ping now that he was my friend. In fact, I was probably the hardest on him and everyone knew it.

In fact, I think the reason why Ping got to be such a good soldier was because he was always being punished by me. Every morning he was late and each time the punishment had to get tougher, because I could not have a soldier late every single day. And Ping knew what he had to do each time.

One morning as he stumbled in, our eyes met and Ping immediately nodded. He asked, "How many laps this time Captain? 6 laps around camp?"

I nodded. "Ping one day, I swear, I'm going to punish you so badly that you are going to want to wake up so early and wait outside my tent even before the sun comes out." The soldiers, Ping and I laughed. "Or maybe, you'll be so exhausted from your punishment and training that you'll just fall dead in front of my tent."

We all laughed. But of course Ping had something to say, but it caught me by surprise. "Only so we can spend these precious moments with each other Captain," he then saluted me and ran. Everyone laughed, including me, but as I watched him run, which was going to be Ping running 6 miles, I thought about what he said. Even if it was just a joke, it reminded me of his sister. And it was Ping's first sign of affection.

The second time was later that night when I decided that we were going to sit around the fire to rest. Each soldier sat around the campfire. I sat at the top of the campfire, but sitting across from Ping, who sat next to Yao, Chien-Po, and Ling. Each soldier took a turn talking about something, or answering something a person asked. But then it suddenly took a turn on the topic of love, and I was asked a question.

Yao and Ling looked at me with an odd look and I looked at them and then looked away. "Captain," they said in unison, "You are quite the built man, aren't you?"

I laughed. "Are you two in love with me?"

Everyone laughed including Yao and Ling. But once the laughter died down, they continued their question. "I bet you've had your nice share of ladies, haven't you?"

Immediately my eyes met with Ping's and his eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed. But I turned to Yao and Ling to avoid his look.

"What is your biggest mistake and who is the one girl you will always love?" Yao and Ling asked.

Even though everyone was looking at me, I felt Ping's eyes on me. I felt the pressure coming from him. But I had to answer because everyone else answered. But I couldn't get myself to look up and face Ping myself. So I looked down and answered, "My biggest mistake was at an Imperial Ball." I sighed. I could just lie. No one was there at the ball. None of my friends were here. The only person who was there was Mei and Mulan. And none of those people were here. But I felt obliged to tell the truth. Because for some reason, I felt like Mulan was here. "I almost lost everything I had to a girl named Wu Mei." I gave out a big breath. Chi Fu wasn't here listening so I would never hear about it and the men swore to secrecy outside of the fire circle.

I looked up and all of the men had a smile upon their faces. "I know her!" One soldier exclaimed. "I knew her real well just like you!" He hi-fived with another man.

Every soldier looked around and was laughing. Another soldier said, "Yeah, I'm sure everyone knew her like that. Don't be so hard on yourself Captain."

I had to correct these men. "But I didn't do anything with her…"

That silenced them. One soldier asked, "Why not?"

I laughed. "She disgusted me. That's all." The other soldiers then joined in and laughed with me. I even caught a sight of Ping laughing from the corner of my eyes.

"Well what about the one girl you will always love?" Ling asked which quickly silenced the laughter.

I sighed. "I was…" I coughed and corrected myself. "I mean, I am in love with Fa Mulan."

I paused for a moment. I didn't need to explain myself anymore. I answered their question. And it honestly pained me to answer it. It was like, it unraveled again. It had risen all over again, even though it was buried. But of course, I had to explain myself after the next question.

"Isn't that Ping's sister?" one soldier asked. "She lived in the village next to me. She was pretty and all, but why are you in love with her? I mean she didn't even pass…"

And by then Ping had thrown something at him, stopping him from finishing what he had said. I was going to ask, but I didn't want to make it worse. So I kept my mouth shut and wondered about it.

But I had to answer his question. "I love her and I have ever since I met her. I was just seven when I first met her. She was like my best friend. I saw her again when I got older and her beauty…" I paused for a minute, "but it just wasn't about her looks. She actually had something inside. She wasn't all beauty." I stopped for a moment, but then looked up and caught the eyes of Ping. "I can't describe it, but when I lost her, I felt like I lost everything and I don't think I'll ever find anyone else like her."

For a while Ping and I looked each other in the eyes. But it wasn't long before he stood up and walked out. Even though it was dark, I noticed one thing no one else had seen, a small tear and a smile, which was really unusual for a guy, especially when it was about his sister.

Later that night, I met up again with Ping. He was walking around looking a bit dazed. I walked up to him and asked, "Ping, are you alright? You ran out of there pretty quickly after I said something about your sister."

He then punched me in the side just like he did at the beginning of camp, which I noticed was almost every single time he was nervous. "Yeah Captain. I'm fine. I just, you know, was a bit tired of all that sharing and mushy stuff. And well when you started talking about my sister, you know, I just couldn't take that. I miss her and I guess hearing your side of the story makes me kinda see what you feel."

I smiled. "So does that mean you forgive me?"

He laughed. "I'm not Mulan. Yeah I forgive you."

I had to ask. I had to ask. "Now that you heard me pouring out my heart, I need to know, because this has been tugging at my heart. Is your sister married?"

Ping gave me a look and then smirked. He then turned around, leaving me with my mouth agape. "You'll just have to wait until after the war Captain! You'll have to wait and see!"

There's one scene that happened between Ping and I that I will never forget. It was the night before we started moving out. But for some reason, it's the only scene I seemed to have remembered so clearly that night because everything was just a blur after Chi Fu broke then news to me that my father needed help. It was when Ping said something that made me not only wonder whether Ping was a girl, but also our friendship.

It was the night that I realized after the soldiers had trained, that they were ready to fight. They weren't as skilled as me but they were ready for combat. I knew they were ready. They were ready to fight. They were ready to face the Huns. They were ready to bring victory to China. I was ready to meet up with my father again. I was ready. But of course Chi Fu had to ruin everything.

"You think your troops are ready for battle?" He asked me incredulously once I told him my plans. Chi Fu scoffed. "They wouldn't last a minute against the Huns!" He retorted.

"They completed their training," I argued.

"Those boys," Chi Fu said, emphasizing on the boys part. I knew then and there that I would never see battle with these men, or from Chi Fu's point of view, with these boys. They were boys in the beginning, but they are men now, I wanted to say. But I didn't.

"Those boys," Chi Fu continued, "are no more fit for battle than you are for Captain." At that moment I wanted to strangle Chi Fu. My eyes widened. I was chosen for my skills and not because I was the General's son right? I was the top of my class and ready to be Captain, right? "Once the General reads my report," Chi Fu answered me, "your troops will never see battle."

I knew right then and there that I had to challenge him. Prove him wrong. DO anything to get myself up there. See that was what was wrong with this picture. ME. MYSELF. AND I. I should have been thinking about my soldiers, not about being the greatest of all time. I stood up and grabbed Chi Fu's clipboard, "We're not finished yet," I answered him.

Chi Fu scoffed. "Be careful Captain. Your father may be General, but I am the Emperor's Counsul." He brushed me off. I stood there growling and glaring at him, wondering what form of torture I could do to him. But the last line that he said, angered me the most. "By the way, I got that job all on my own." I didn't even hear the _you are dismissed_ part. I was so angry that I walked out of that tent snarling and talking under my breath.

That was when I saw Ping. I was like a speeding arrow and Ping was another target. An easy one at that. But of course Ping was calm. "Hey I'll hold him and you punch!" He said to me as I walked by.

I sighed. I wanted to yell at him, but I just thought _Not now Ping_ and walked away. But then I heard him say, "For what it's worth," he said, "I think you're a great Captain!"

I paused dead in my tracks. I rewinded what he said in my head over and over again. My mouth was open. I turned and looked back a bit but continued to walk on after I looked at the way Ping was staring at me and I knew where I had seen that stare before. His sister. I kept asking myself, is Ping in love with me? Better yet, is Ping really Mulan? These questions played in my head over and over again.

I wondered over and over again whether Ping was a girl. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if I caught Ping at the lake bathing. Actually I can. But that's not the point.

Now with all of this, you would think I would have noticed that Ping was really a girl. Or at least get the idea! I mean he was emotional! But then again, so was I. Underneath everything I was this emotional guy. I hid it all the time. I was often angry, stiff, or seemed indifferent. But I was just halfway on my journey, because everything else that happened next went by way too quickly.

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Author's Note:

I was in such a rush to write this! I had to put this in before school started! :/ I hate school. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. As a spoiler, the next chapter is going to be based on another song from Mulan! Haha. I wish Mulan was a broadway musical, like The Little Mermaid or the Lion King. I mean more songs would be invented and augh we all know that the songs were amazing!

Anyways, thank you to all my reviewers! I am sorry I am not writing a heartfelt thank you or anything, but I am just so tired! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I cannot honestly thank you guys enough! You guys are the best! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because I wrote it for you guys!


	11. A Girl Worth Fighting For

**Author's Note: **A short little chapter looking over the bittersweet song the soldiers sang on the way to the battlefield. Thank you to all of my readers/reviewers! I am running a bit short on school and updating so I hope you do forgive me!

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"A Girl Worth Fighting For"

Now you're probably wondering why I didn't sing along with my men, but isn't it coherently obvious? I was in pain. Long and strenuous emotional pain. One, I was about to see my father again for the first time in months. Two, I felt like a complete failure training these troops. Even though Ping reassuringly told me that morning not to listen to Chi Fu, I couldn't help but wonder, what if he is right? What if my men are not ready for battle? This then lead to the third problem: losing my men in battle. As my father had told me, I should be ready to lose a comrade in battle. I should be ready to see men die trying to keep me safe. I should be ready to do the same for another comrade. And now I felt responsible for over one hundred men, who probably had no idea what kind of trouble they would be getting themselves into while they sang happily and carelessly. Also, if my father himself was asking for help in battle, something bad had happened. Something very bad. This then led me to think about even more worries: What if we were losing terribly? What if the Huns were already making their way to the Imperial Palace as we were just walking, no, trudging along slowly? More importantly, what if my father was already dead? I shook my head. I couldn't think of these things. I had to stay positive. I thought to myself, maybe I should sing along with the soldiers?

"For a long time we've been marching on to battle…" the soldiers all sang monotonously.

I scoffed to myself and then realized, I was riding on a horse. I couldn't say anything.

"In a thundering herd we feel a lot like cattle…" Yao continued.

I couldn't help but laugh when the cattle in the distant fields raised their heads high and whined at the sound and look of the soldiers.

"Like the pounding beat, our aching feet aren't easy to ignore…" I sighed and almost turned my ears away from the song until Ling sang one line, completely changing the moods of the soldiers.

"Think of instead a girl worth fighting for…" he sang off-key-ish.

And just like that the eyes of the soldiers glazed over, their march became quicker and in a way more upbeat, and for the first time in a long time, I saw a smile upon their faces, whether it be smug or in the middle of a daydream or some sweet reverie. But I noticed that the only one uncomfortable was Ping, which kept me wondering why.

"I want her paler than the moon," Ling continued, "with eyes that shine like stars."

"My girl will marvel at my strength," he sang as he flexed his arm muscles, "adore my battle scars."

Chien-Po finished off the three men, "I couldn't care less what she wears or what she looks like. I only care about what she cooks like beef, pork, chicken."

All at once, the men smiled as they thought about that decent meal they hadn't had in forever.

As we crossed the river, Yao continued his part, singing oddly towards Ping, "I bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer." The other two men snickered, while Ping rolled his eyes. He then kicked Yao in the gut and Yao fell into the river. I wondered what was exchanged in that little glance or snicker between the men. I didn't know that Ping and the three stooges had a history. In fact, I didn't think that was possible considering they were all enemies before camp even started. I thought about it as the men continued their song. In fact, it wasn't until Ping sung that I actually started to pay full attention again.

Every now and then I would turn around and look at the men. I looked at all the men as they sung about their perfect woman. They all had the same facial expression the whole time: happy, jovial, sometimes smug, or at times (unless you're Chi Fu) voracious. But one face that stood out to me was Ping's. His face was neither one of these, but instead wore an uncomfortable, yet extremely disgusted expression. This whole time I had wanted to join the song, unsure of whether or not to join in because I should be focused on war, or because I thought singing was a bit trivial. But I also wanted to join in to let go of my worries and anxiety and be able to say what I want just like the other men. That is, until I saw his face.

As I turned around and faced forward, I thought about everything that the men had sung about and his reasons as to why his face might be like that. I then considered another reason why his face was disgusted, but I knew it had to do with the song. It wasn't until the song started that I saw that expression worn tiredly on his face. You're probably wondering why I cared so much about why Ping was disgusted. Ping was Mulan's brother, and his liking to me, depended on my brother-in-law status with him. Also, Ping had soon grown to become one of my best friends over the time being. I often found that what he liked was what I didn't like, with a few exceptions.

I reversed mentally in my head for phrases why he might have been disgusted. I remembered him grimacing at Ling's phrase: "_I want her paler than the moon with eyes that shine like stars_."

Then I mentally saw him rolling his eyes at Yao's, "_My girl will marvel at my feet and adore my battle scars_."

Also, Ping scoffed and walked away angrily after hearing Chien-Po. "_I only care about what she cooks, like pork, beef, and chicken_."

So maybe he just thinks they are pathetic, my mind thought. But I knew better. Ping was like Mulan, which is why I think I got along so well with Ping. He was disgusted at these men. If I didn't know any better, I almost would have thought that Ping was Mulan.

But soon I saw the men crowding around Ping from behind and then in the front. He was walking somberly and quietly away from the men, until these men came along. "My girl will think I have no faults," Ping chuckled.

"Or that I'm a major find!" I watched as Ping almost tried to hold in his laughter, but then watch it all drain out as the three men waited for his answer. His face went pale white as he searched around for an answer, stuttering as he went.

"Uh…" he started nervously, "How about a girl who's got a brain, and always speaks her mind?" He finished questionably. I shook my head and turned around, but then noticed, that perfectly described his sister. And no guy in China, unless you are completely dim-witted, would ask for a girl like that unless…

My mind spun almost completely blurring out my environment and the music around me. _Is Ping really Mulan?_ I wondered to myself. _There's no way!_ My mind screamed. Mulan _was_ an amazing fighter. _Was,_ my mind emphasized. But Ping _was_ the complete opposite of Mulan! Ping _was_ a horrible soldier. _Was,_ my mind emphasized once again. But Mulan was also a quick learner and so was Ping.

I turned around to look at him again. He looked so uncomfortable with the men around him, walking with their arms around him, whistling to their tune. I smiled and turned around, keeping my eyes towards the ground, that is until I smelled it: the smell of ash, burning wood, and fire. That's when the singing stopped. The sounds of happy marching stopped. The whistling stopped. The birds stopped chirping. But the sounds of heavy breaths, and immediate shocks came from behind. I immediately looked up, where I saw my deepest horror continuously unfolding in front of me. I tried to breathe but I couldn't. From my rasping throat came one small utter that came and went with my breath, "_Oh no._"


End file.
